This is my failure to progress birth story. Grab some popcorn, sit back, relax, and learn how my oldest daughter came into the world.
My oldest daughter recently had a birthday and it’s reminding me of her birth story. So, sit back grab the popcorn and listen to the story of how my oldest daughter came into the world.
A birth story can’t start without talking about how we found out I was pregnant. I and my husband (boyfriend at the time) were living in a one bedroom apartment and I had suddenly become very ill. My tummy was…
The mind is a powerful thing to waste, or misuse, even in labor!
Your mind will play a large role in how your labor unfolds. Feelings of fear, lack of safety or conflict can stall or stop labor. Your cervix may stop dilating, so labor continues to go on without any cervical change. This of course lengthens the time of labor since it is necessary that the cervix dilate completely in order to push a baby out.
On the flip side, when women experience feelings of safety, warmth, compassion and love during labor and when we know we are okay, our bodies can open up smoothly and our relaxed and calm minds can even hasten labor, causing our bodies to open up in an easier way.
Every body experiences labor differently. For some women, labor will be fast and furious, and for others, labor will last a couple days, even with a contented mind. But take note: our minds have an effect on our labor. This is why it is important that the people you want to be with you in labor are there and the people you don’t want around you are somewhere else, and make sure you talk through your fears. Deal with any conflict, fears or problems before labor begins so nothing in your mind keeps your body from opening up and letting your little one out into the big wide world.
This article gives an evidence-based analysis of the "Failure to Progress" diagnosis, when it is properly applied, and what normal expectations for labor and delivery times should be. A very helpful article for setting expectations and understanding concerns about long labors.
Was awesome. "Freedom For Birth" was a great film, and the Q&A with Ina May Gaskin was incredible! She's so well educated and informative!
Of course this event was part of my journey for healing. I'm interested in childbirth, first and foremost, because I genuinely want a career in that field and I have for a long time. But I am also healing from my own birth experience, and I'm not going to be shy about that. I need to do this...I need to openly express and heal so that I don't disservice women in the future by trying to "avenge" my own birth.
This event was for me. I needed to go to hear some things, and to ask questions.
After everything got done, I went up to Ina May...
Me: I know you had a very low cesarean rate on the farm...
Ina: It was under 2%
Me: So I'm wondering, out of all of those cesareans...how many were "failure to progress"?
Ina: None.
Yep. So out of a few thousand births nobody "failed to progress". Nobody needed a C-section because their bodies 'couldn't do it'.
I was SO expecting her to say that the percentage of cesareans due to FTP would be like 40-50%. I really expected to hear that! I was shocked she said "none"!
"Failure to progress" is a common reason that women end up being recommended various interventions to help childbirth along. While in some situations these interventions may well be warranted, often providers jump to intervene without recognizing that their own practices (constant checking, fetal monitoring, etc.) may be what is slowing down the birth process. This post on babble gives some great tips for helping the birth process, and highlights the video above as great illustration of how things can get held up.
It seems like the lesson here is, "Privacy please!"
