# Why did I get "stuck" at 8 cm?



## Pepper (Jan 25, 2004)

Brief birth history: baby #1, preterm labor and bedrest due to raging UTI at 32 weeks, PROM at 37w4d, went to hospital and got pit after only 2 hours of labor (deemed labor going too slow







: ) got epidural at 7 cm, baby born 7-1/2 lbs. healthy and perfect.

Baby #2, lots of prodromal labor, labored at home until I got panicky that it was happening too fast. Arrived at hospital dilated to 6. Progressed nicely to 8 cm in 2 hours but then kind of stalled out. I was at 8 cm for almost 5 hours in agony. I mostly stayed on the birth ball since that was the only semi-comfortable position for me. After almost 5 hours I went from 8-9-10 in 10 minutes after changing positions and lying on my side (which was pure agony) and baby was born 10 minutes later healthy and perfect at 9+ lbs.

Here are my questions: my doula wondered if me staying on the birth ball for so long prevented baby from descending. I am a tiny person (5', 95 lbs) and I think that maybe it just took this larger baby several hours to make it through the birth canal. Or perhaps my being in a hospital created stress that caused my body to stop progressing? Did I mentally cause this?

I am planning another natural hospital birth with doula in attendance and will hopefully stay home for longer this time but I'm concerned that I will have trouble in transition again. Trouble meaning that it took so damn long! Everything I read said that transition was the quickest part but for me it just went on and on...

Thanks for any insights.


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## annakiss (Apr 4, 2003)

My thoughts are that your big baby just needed that time to get positioned correctly for delivery. I'm no midwife though. Try the hip counterpressure described in Ina May's Guide to Childbirth if you feel "stuck" again. Just sounds like that's the sort of time you needed to me though.


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## pamamidwife (May 7, 2003)

yeah, what came to me was just what anna said. either your baby needed some time to get in a better position to move through your pelvis or maybe it needed some time to have the head mold a bit.


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## mwherbs (Oct 24, 2004)

So you had a fast labor really (7 hrs) which can make labor more intense. There may have been many reasons you "slowed" down a bit your tissues needed to stretch the baby needed to find it's way. The head probably needed to do some moulding and your bones probably needed to shift around a bit too. Who knows maybe your endorphins needed to get to a higher level so that crowning and delivery would be less painful, and so you would have enough endorphins in your colostrum to really soothe the baby. birth has so many complexities, I have one MW friend who is an astrologer and she would probably be working out what was happening from that angle...
congratulations


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## Pepper (Jan 25, 2004)

Thank you for the insights.

annakiss, I have the Ina May book on my xmas wishlist. I hope to read it soon.

mwherbs, that is so interesting about the endorphin levels. I'm sure the body knows exactly what it is doing and instead of thinking that I got "stuck" I've decided to believe that my labor went exactly as it should have and needed to to birth my baby.

I'm planning another hospital birth in June and I'm worried about knowing exactly when to go to the hospital. I don't want to get there at 8 cm and have 5 hours to go....on the other hand, looking back I feel that I will know, from experience this time, when birth is within an hour or so.

Thanks again.


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## anothermama (Nov 11, 2003)

I think you need to read the Ina May book and re-evaluate your mental state about birth. You mentioned getting "panicky" and so I think that probably had something to do with it too. It doesn't sound like you got "stuck" on anything....that your body just doesn't labor like "average"........maybe thats normal for you. You sound a lot like me........I have HORRIFIC first hours of labor in which I don't progress much and then BANG I am suddenly at ten and my babies heads are out.







But.........I never thought anything was WRONG....I just rolled with it.

And, ditto to what everyone else said, too.


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## mehndi mama (May 20, 2003)

I think anyone could get stalled out for a while at that dilation - it's a critical stage, where the baby is moving down further, and if their head hasn't molded enough, it'll take time. I doubt the birthing ball had anything to do with it - it's not like it was pressing on your cervix!

With my 3rd birth, I labored & dilated to 8, where my contractions then stalled and I regressed to 3!!!!! I went back into labor a week later, when she was finally born!


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## doctorjen (May 29, 2003)

My last labor stalled after I went to the hospital. I was laboring great at home with dh providing counter pressure on my sore back, while we watched "Armegeddon" (sp?) We dropped off our due rental movies on the way to the hospital, and I was still feeling pretty great, although I knew I was in good active labor. I checked in and nurse examined me and I was 8 already. I was feeling transitiony and sure the baby would be here in minutes. Then my doc showed up, who I wasn't crazy about, and immediately asked for a hook to break my water. I flipped and refused, and we had a big argument. After that, my labor was very strange. I had good intense contractions, but didn't seem to know what to do with myself. Dh kept trying to get me out of bed, as I usually walk throughout labor, but I felt self-conscious and worried. I kept waiting for my water to break on it's own, and the urge to push to show up as it had with my last 2 births, and I was sure it would be any second since I was 8 to start with. 2 1/2 hours later, I asked to be examined, because it was getting close to midnight and I was really hoping for a May baby. The OB said I was completely dilated, and insisted on breaking my water. I gave in finally. I still felt no urge to push whatsoever. I waited for a while, but still no urge to push and tremendous pressure with contractions, much more painful than my previous 2 births. Finally, since I was looking at the clock and still hoping to be before midnight, I started pushing. It only took me 13 minutes to push out my almost 9 lber, and we made it in May with 14 minutes to spare.
I think I was probably completely dilated, or nearly so the whole 2 1/2 hours I sat there fretting and I think the argument and uncomfortableness with my doc kept me from feeling any urge to push, too.


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## 2+twins (Apr 20, 2004)

Sounds like what's referred to by the Bradley Method as the Natural Alignment Plateau. It occurs in over 50% of natural births. This is a time where many things may be happening to prepare either the mom or the baby (or both) for the birth. I can scan & email a paper on it to you if you're interested, but some of the reasons believed to be responsible are:

-Physical alignment of the baby's presenting part in relation to the mother's pelvis
- Softening of the cartilage in the pelvis & increasing flexibility of the ligaments & tendons as the mother's body prepares to best accommadate the baby
- Time for the breasts to form all the immunities necessary to protect the baby after birth (secretion from the breasts prior to the onset of labor are very low in these immunities, yet they are full of them by the time the baby is born - this may require some extra time)
- The baby may be in need of more contractions which massage the baby, stimulate it's nervous system & prepare it's lungs for breathing on the outside
- Psychological changes in the mother (you may need time to adjust to the fact that you are taking on a huge responsibility for another life; you may have anxiety at the thought of the baby's first step toward independance; mother's have often reported that they felt unable to let go & give birth to their babies until they were in an environment where they felt safe & secure)
- Psychological changes in the baby (evidence tends to support the theory that the baby may also be undergoing psychological & emotional changes during this time)

Hope this helps!


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## watermamma (Dec 29, 2003)

"I'm sure the body knows exactly what it is doing and instead of thinking that I got "stuck" I've decided to believe that my labor went exactly as it should have and needed to to birth my baby." Pepper

ITA! Your body _does_ know exactly what to do. Maybe for your next birth you could not be "checked" at all. Perhaps not knowing your dialation will help avoid feeling stuck at a particular stage. Checking dialation really isn't necessary for baby to come out









My first birth I was "stuck" at 3cm for a long time. Then went from 3-pushing in 2 hours. I "knew" I was in hard active labor/transition, but the only thing anyone would listen to was my cervical dialation









Happy birthing!!!


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## Pepper (Jan 25, 2004)

watermamma, my doula warned me about getting too many cervical checks but I just _had_ to know. I liked knowing that I was making progress--until I stopped making progress for a bit and then it really did end up being an unnecessary stressor. I remember being very grunty in the hour leading up to being a full 10 cm so I will try my best to avoid the dilation checks and read my signs instead. It helps having gone through a natural, unmedicated birth -as I mentioned my first birth was pit and epi and I never felt any pushing urges at all so I didn't know what it felt like.

Jenne, Thank you for that info! I did read the Bradley book and followed the methods but am unfamiliar with the Natural Alignment Plateau--maybe I skimmed that part? It sounds like exactly what happened to me.

I am really so glad to have this feedback. For the past 2 years or so, although I have a really positive memory of my second birth (It was truly a healing experiencing for me after my first birth) and am very pleased with how it all went, somewhere in the back of my mind I was unsettled with that 5 hour lag in dilation. I've read so much about transition being the fastest part and wasn't that familiar with other birth stories similar to mine.

I can't wait to find out how this next labor will go! I have so much less fear this time and am really looking forward to experiencing everything


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## watermamma (Dec 29, 2003)

"my doula warned me about getting too many cervical checks but I just had to know. " - Pepper

Ya, I am the same way, even after my 1st experience. At my 2nd birth, I asked to be checked, even knowing that it really means diddly. And sure enough, I "stalled" for 5 hours, but this time, I knew that is just how my body works, and that it works perfectly







But I still walk around telling people to avoid getting checked


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