Pushing So the Baby Comes Out

The expulsive stage of the labor generally lasts between thirty and ninety minutes – however in some occasions it has lasted up to two or three hours – depending on the position and size of the baby, if you have had an epidural, and if you have had a baby before. if this is not your first delivery, the neck of the uterus might start to dilate weeks before your due date, and after being dilated it is possible all you will need to do is give a few pushes and your ready, the baby is born! Your doctor and nurse will give you concrete indications about when to push exactly. While you push, the baby descends. Some women start to push when the head of the baby has entered the pelvis. After you are in this stage, only giving one or two pushes can generally help the baby’s head to come out. Then when the doctor has sucked the secretions from the baby’s mouth and nose, the rest of the body generally comes out with just one push.

There are several positions you can be in to push. The most common is the position in which you sit laying back and place your knees near your chest. At the same time you bend the neck and try to bring the jaw to the chest. Your body should sort of form a c shape. Although it is not a very elegant way to sit, it is good for aligning the pelvis and makes it easier to give birth.

Other positions that can work well are being in a squatting position or the various types of knee chest positions. The advantage of squatting is that the gravity can help; the disadvantage is that you could get too tired to stay in this position for enough time and can also be uncomfortable because of the monitoring and IV.

The knee chest position consists on getting down on your four extremities and pushing this way. This position can be very useful if the head of the baby is turned in the birth canal, meaning that pushing while squatting would make it more difficult as well as the sitting position. The knee chest position might be uncomfortable for some women that find it difficult to remain in this position for a long time. You may need to practice a bit to know which is the best position for you specifically.

If you feel that nothing is advancing, then simply try another position. When you do start to feel a contraction, the doctor will ask you to take a deep breath. After this, inhale deeply again, hold the air in, and then push it out as much as you can. Concentrate on pushing toward the rectum, and try not to tense up the muscles of the vagina and the rectum. Push as if you were going to the bathroom. Don’t worry and don’t feel embarrassed if you expel some fecal matter, (if this does happen, a nurse will make sure to clean it up quickly and will also make sure to wipe you off). This is actually the rule rather then the exception, besides rest assured that the people that are working with you and helping you have seen it happen tons of times. In fact this presence of fecal matter tells the doctor that you are pushing correctly, so don’t worry about it, it means you are doing a good job. Trying to hold it back will only worsen your effort in helping the baby come out.

Push for ten seconds at a time. Many nurses count until ten or ask the person that is accompanying them to count until ten to help them be aware of the time. After counting until ten, quickly let go of the air you had been holding onto, breath deeply again and push again for ten seconds just like before. You will probably push around three times with each contraction, depending on how long the contraction lasts.

In between contractions, try to do everything you can to relax and rest so that you are ready for the up coming contraction. If the doctor does not have any problem with it, your partner or husband can feed you some ice chips or wet your forehead with a damp towel.

If the head of the baby has descended enough through the birth canal, it will be evident when you are pushing. The first showing of the baby’s is calling crowing, because the doctor is able to see the crown of the baby’s head. Some delivery rooms have mirrors so that the mother can see the baby’s head too, but there are a lot of women that do not like looking. This is normal so don’t feel bad if this is your case, a lot is going on and the last thing you need to do is start feeling bad about not wanting to look. After the contraction, the head of the baby will probably disappear again up towards the birth canal. This is normal though. With each push you give, the baby will come down a little bit more and will go back in a little.