I got that wrong!? Share your misconceptions of labour

[NashiPear]

1. Women in labour don't scream (yeah, right!)
2. Labour pain is unbearable (I got through it with TENS and paracetemol)
3. The latent phase of labour hurts like mad and you will probably go to hospital thinking you are in full labour but are only 1cm dilated (I didn't even notice the latent stage, I thought it was just braxton hicks and went dashing round the shops for storage boxes and tidying the house)
4. A birthing ball is great during labour (I wasn't capable of sitting during labour and spent all the delivery and birth on one side lying down)
5. It's impossible to eat or drink in active labour - wrong! I managed a Muller light yogurt and several diet Cokes
6. It's OK, you won't lose bowel control during the 2nd stage - (hate to admit it but I did and I'm not the only one)
7.

I had absolutely no idea about the loss of bowel control until about a week before I gave birth to my second (first was c-sec). So glad a friend was honest enough to tell me.

 

[NashiPear]

Lol by the I got to the labour ward (7cm) I wandered into the toilet with only a t-shirt on and tried to poo (didn't realise it was his head). You really do not care! And when you have stitches you don't care that your legs are in stirrups and there's someone staring at your fanny (in my case 2 as there was a trainee learning how to stitch)

I had a retained placenta and a bad tear so you can imagine how much time the obstetrician had to spend down there. He was fantastic though and very reassuring. HOWEVER, fast forward a few weeks when I return to hospital for another appointment, I see him in the cafeteria. As much as I am appreciative of what he did for me, I really felt strange seeing him again even though at the time I couldn't have cared less.

 

[sequeena]

Lol by the I got to the labour ward (7cm) I wandered into the toilet with only a t-shirt on and tried to poo (didn't realise it was his head). You really do not care! And when you have stitches you don't care that your legs are in stirrups and there's someone staring at your fanny (in my case 2 as there was a trainee learning how to stitch)

I had a retained placenta and a bad tear so you can imagine how much time the obstetrician had to spend down there. He was fantastic though and very reassuring. HOWEVER, fast forward a few weeks when I return to hospital for another appointment, I see him in the cafeteria. As much as I am appreciative of what he did for me, I really felt strange seeing him again even though at the time I couldn't have cared less.

I retained the placenta too, ended up squatting over a bed pan trying to push it out even though I couldn't feel a thing having just pushed a baby out You had a man? No wonder, I'd have kicked a male doctor in the face if he'd gone anywhere near my nether regions!