[DoulaLC]

Ouch... Not fun... I hope you had lots of help in trying to get baby to rotate during labor!

[J_9]

We had a girl scream today... took an extra hour of pushing.

Epidurals, not so bad. All depends on your position after the loading dose. If you are laying mostly on your left side, your right side will be unaffected by the med, therefore you will feel more on the right. It's all a matter of positioning and the perfectionism (is that a word) of the anesthesiologist.

[NowWhat]

J_9, I have a question for you as a nurse on the labor and delivery floor.

Can you spot a screamer? Do you get a gut feeling that "this one" isn't going to calm down?
I am just curious. I know nurses see so much and soon can anticipate things. I was just curious if spotting a screamer is one of those things?

:)

[Emland]

I have given birth twice, neither one did I scream. The first one ended up an emergency c-section after 12 hours of back labor when the doctor saw signs of fetal distress. My expression of pain was to wimper like a puppy and swear under my breath. I had a spinal block and never felt the shot due to the severe back labor pain. After the block - life was sooooo much better. I ended up having to be completely sedated for the c-section so missed my son's birth. I was really unhappy about that, but there was nothing I could have done to prevent it.

Second time around (11 years later) I was determined NOT to have a c-section unless the baby got in trouble because I didn't want to miss the birth. I had developed preeclampsia and was given a drug to induce labor. My old friend, back labor, came back for a visit and they administered the epideral once they determined I was in active labor. I guess the epidural did something because I don't remember feeling anything but pressure during contractions, but it did nothing for the sensation that someone was trying to remove my spine by pulling it out my backside. Although, I remember that pain - it wouldn't stop me from having another baby (if for some reason I lost my cotton picking mind and my tubes heal themselves.)

I do remember b*tching and complaining and swearing under my breath during the contractions - so that was probably my equivalent to screaming. If I had to do it all over again I would now choose the c-section because I ended up with a 3rd degree tear that took 3 hours to sew up and forever to heal.

[DoulaLC]

How labor and birth progress for many women can depend on so many factors. Did they stay in bed most of the time... if they had an epidural, how far along were they and what position was baby in when they got it... what level of support did they have... what options did they have available to them... were alternatives to interventions discussed and tried first, etc... for example, in the case of back labor (and I'm not saying this is the case for anyone here, but it is very common), staying in bed, especially lying down, is the last place someone should be in that situation.

It is frustrating when you hear of a "bad" birth experience and then find out how little information the family was given, how many of the same interventions are used over and over in what I call assembly line births... similar to many of the baby shows on television. Far too many families are not given enough information to make truly informed decisions as to their care. The majority of births have interventions used, when in fact, the majority of births don't really require them and they often have a snowball effect... one intervention makes another become necessary... many families are not fully aware of this.

There certainly is a time and place for all obstetric procedures, but it is inconceivable that the majority of women giving birth need so much assistance to do so.

Would someone have had a different outcome and birth experience if they had made different decisions? Possibly... but in childbirth you don't get "do overs", that is why it is so important that families have as much information as possible before being in the midst of labor and birth so that they can make informed choices and not ones based out of fear, the unknown, or lack of information as so often happens.

[J_9]

J_9, I have a question for you as a nurse on the labor and delivery floor.

Can you spot a screamer? Do you get a gut feeling that "this one" isn't going to calm down?
I am just curious. I know nurses see so much and soon can anticipate things. I was just curious if spotting a screamer is one of those things?

:)

First I have to thank Doula for her wonderful response here. The information she gave is accurate on so many levels. There are so many choices women can making their labor plans. We just must remember that labor plans, as wonderful as they can be, don't always work out as planned and sometimes interventions are necessary.

Now, NW, yes, for the most part we can identify a screamer. Typically they are young first time mothers. When they are in active labor the process can become intense and they feel overwhelmed and that they can't go on. This happens even with women who have had epidurals.

[NowWhat]

Then I guess those nurses saw me coming! :)

[Young-Love]

I never delivered my son naturally, they had to do an emergency c-section on me with only an epidural that felt like it was wearing off. From the time they started cutting me open I could feel so much pressure and I could almost feel everything they were doing. I screamed so loud because it hurt so nadly I had tears streaming down my face and my mum looking at me saying it can't possibly hurt that bad. They had to put me to sleep because I was in so much pain. Turns out the epidural hadn't fully worked for me and I could feel some of the things they were doing.

Next time I have another kid they are just going to put me to sleep before it all starts... I can never deliver naturally

[DoulaLC]

I never delivered my son naturally, they had to do an emergency c-section on me with only an epidural that felt like it was wearing off. From the time they started cutting me open I could feel so much pressure and I could almost feel everything they were doing. I screamed so loud because it hurt so nadly I had tears streaming down my face and my mum looking at me saying it can't possibly hurt that bad. They had to put me to sleep because I was in so much pain. Turns out the epidural hadn't fully worked for me and I could feel some of the things they were doing.

Next time I have another kid they are just going to put me to sleep before it all starts...I can never deliver naturally

Things could be very different for you next time. You had a c-section, and apparently the epidural had not numbed you as deeply as it normally would for surgery. Obviously surgery is going to be different from labor and you may find you do very well with a vaginal birth.

[glitterpunk]

I didn't scream at all. I mean,I wanted to scream so bad. But I didn't I laid on the hospital bed,and I pushed really hard. I made tiny grunts but that's it. The baby was out in a minute.