No internals?

[special_kala]

I dont want any internals in labour (apart from maybe one when MW's get here just so i know my starting point) but just wondered what other signs they use for dilation and when to push?

 

[Mervs Mum]

The woman's behaviour is the main indicator of what stage she is at. As far as pushing goes, the main point of not having VEs is that you're going to listen to your body and birth instinctively. No one tells cats when to push! If you want to push then push and if you don't then don't! You don't wait for someone to tell you when to push a poo out and its the same muscles in another physiological process.

There are lots of blog posts about assessing progress without VEs. This is a recent one I read. https://bustinoutbabies.blogspot.com/2011/06/assessing-dilation-by-external-cues.html

Your behaviour, sometimes a purple line appears up the bum crease, legs go colder from the feet upwards with dilation.....VEs alone are not reliable.

 

[special_kala]

Thank you!

 

[madasa]

Oooo, here's one I haven't heard of before! Listening for the baby's heart beat periodically (which they tend to like to do anyway) and tracking WHERE the heartbeat is....

https://www.gentlebirth.org/archives/novagxms.html

Finger breadth method (external):

https://womantowomancbe.wordpress.com/2008/04/27/checking-dilation-without-a-vaginal-exam/

(^ ^ ^ I can't wait to try that one next time! )

Check your own cervix?

https://prepforlabor.tripod.com/id14.html

Not something I would do.... But if you're curious...?!

 

[Mervs Mum]

There is also a very distinctive smell as birth is imminent.

 

[sam#3]

I think if you listen to your body and really feel labour you can tell what stage you are at without being touched, i also think once you have felt the head descend then birth is imminent and at that point no touching or messing about with a woman is needed.
I am also refusing internals this time, im going with the mindset of when it makes my toes curl and hurts... im in labour, and when i feel the head come down and the urge to push.... then i am ready to birth!!

 

[Kess]

My MW made an interesting comment yesterday. She said that by our drive to know as much as possible about labour and birth we've taken some of the mystery out of it, some of the ... spirituality almost. She said that before we knew anything about the womb or cervix, babies still got themselves born, the process happens anyway no matter whether we know what's going on or not. I understand what she's saying, though I disagree a little with the first bit - I'm one of those people who feels the need to understand everything, so knowing about the stages of labour and what's going on inside will be helpful to me I think, and I don't feel it'll be any less of a mystical/spiritual experience because of that, but she's right about the second bit IMO, and if you take the first bit to be relating to society as a whole rather than individual labours I can go with that too.

 

[special_kala]

There does seem to alot of information overload and all it does is worries/frustrates people

I think if i was examined and they said oh your 4cm i would think great ive got ages to go and then if i was 8 cm id think not long now when both of those things could be completely untrue.

It annoying enough knowing she is engaged but not coming out lol

 

[Mervs Mum]

Second babies that are fully engaged before labour starts tend to (in my experience) come out fast! My money is on a short labour for you once it starts

 

[special_kala]

Dont get my hopes up

 

[sam#3]

I was told by a senior mw on labour ward the other week that most of the time when they give you an internal and then give you a number they do not mean anything anyway... she said that women are so obsessed with needing a number of cm's that they pluck a number out of the air most of the time.

Past a couple of cm's they can't tell how dilated you are anyway they just have a feel to see how much of the baby's head they can feel.... so really there is no such thing as 'X amount of cm's dilated' past 2/3......

A woman can be told she is 3cm's and be pushing in under an hour yet a woman can be told she is 8cm's and still be labouring 4 hours later........ there really is NO importance on the numbers, especially for the MW, its more that the woman needs to hear a number for whatever reason.

 

[NaturalMomma]

Behavior is the main one. You change when you are in transition and ready to push. Also if you have no medications you will likely feel the urge to push. It is very strong.

 

[Manfalou]

My MW knew when i was ready to give birth just from my breathing and position... my body just knew what to do x

 

[cranberry987]

How have ppl's MW reacted to them refusing internals? Is it something they generally push for?

 

[chuck]

The MW who came to my home was good about internals she did 2 but asked politely and I dont think she would have been bothered if I had said no.

After what I went through last time I wanted some reassurance I was actually dilating (the 1st VE and she thought I was around 7/8cm) and she did another when labour seemed to not be going anywhere but that was more to assess babies position, as she had concerns he had gone posterior.

Mind you I think at home there's less pressure to have constant checks to see if youre running on timetable so I doubt she would have cared if I had said no until that stall in labour.

 

[7th_heaven]

A woman can be told she is 3cm's and be pushing in under an hour yet a woman can be told she is 8cm's and still be labouring 4 hours later........ there really is NO importance on the numbers, especially for the MW, its more that the woman needs to hear a number for whatever reason.

i was talking with a doula friend of mine and she said the very same.
i agreed to a VE last labor bc i was with a very busy but very awesome dr. (cs rate is something like 6%) anyhow i wanted to give him a head's up.
but through talking with my doula friend i really have come to see what you have said above so i won't be getting a VE during or before this labor.
i also heard that they "play around" with things when they are up there. which i am against.

my doula friend has a shirt that reads--- my cervix isn't a crystal ball

 

[Ju_bubbs]

Your body is an amazing thing!!! Obviously since my midwife didn't arrive, I had no internals throughout labour, and happily laboured in many positions on my birth ball, sofa, floor, stairs.. everywhere! The pool was all set up in the living room right infront of me, but I didn't get it in. Then all of a sudden I jad a REALLY massive urge to be in the pool.. i'm pretty sure it was my bodys way of telling me LO was ready to be born, coz she was born about 10 minutes later!

Trust your body, and do what it tells you! Theres no need to be poked and proded!

 

[aileymouse]

I had a hospital birth and I didn't ask for no examinations. But I was examined when I got there so they could see where I was at (5cm) after that I had no more examinations. The midwife just let me get on with it and when I said I needed to push she just told me to go with it without checking first.
That was all without me asking. I wasn't too worried about not being examined, but it was nice not being interfered with. The did listen in on LO's heartbeat as I had meconium stained waters.