13 hour labor is LONG?!

I read placentamoms respose in a blog that labor was normal if under 12 hours. WTF? I have had the only first time labor under 20 hours of ANYONE I know. How can 12 hours be the limit on mormal? When DID that happen? I looked up to find some info on this and founf this site;
World health organisation
And, nicely enough, It makes NO mention of labor time. Too bad we have sloughed off our membership tot he rest of the world and gone on to do what is good for America...
Now, don't get me wrong, I am not knocking anyone who had a c-sec or some other medical intervention 'cause thier labor was long, I am just shocked to see that a medically "long" labor is 12 hours and one minute.
Really, that would have put my second at a long labor coz it was 13 hours. 13 hours is NOTHING! I felt so fortunate to only have gone through 13 hours.
I think our society has issues with things they cannot control, such as other dirvers and births. And women.... Laughing out loud

__________________

"certified kick ass by dreammama"

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.

From what I learned and what

From what I learned and what my expectations were, I thought 12 hours was about the least I should expect on average. Course I also new my pregnancy would likely be ""long""...that I would probably run 10 days past my due date. I am always amazed that many women don't seem to know this and that drs schedule inductions before the actual average gestation length (41 weeks, 1-3 days.)

Yeah, my midwife told me

Yeah, my midwife told me she wasn't even going to consider any sort of natural induction (acupuncture, herbs, etc) unless I was 2 weeks over what the ultrasound due date said. She said that for a first pregnancy, 41-43 weeks is the normal routine, and that after that, its 38-40.
The OB/GYN and the naturopathic doctor I saw both said they would induce if I went one week over the ultrasound date. Once again, just a bunch of conflicting information, and I guess you just gotta go with who you trust?!

__________________

"Fundamentally the markswoman aims at herself" DT Suzuki

Exactly!!

and I hope most moms look around for themselves to check their particular practitioner for consistency with their opinions. You couldn't offer my SIL more interventions in her pregnancy and birth if you tried. She was disappointed when she heard she wasn't going to be induced out of routine, because another mom who used her Ob said she was. I freaked, told her it was NOT standard, and she was the worst candidate for it...irregular period, no early ultrasound. Her Ob backed me up when she went to him. Then, she was like 2 weeks early and her labor was only 4 hours after being admitted...which was a few hours after mild contractions started. They managed to hook up the machine that goes ping, epidural, IV's etc before she had time to push, and then the baby was out in no time. Now, after a pregnancy (which was on purpose, for some reason) in which she was afraid/hostile toward the baby, pregnancy, motherhood, the whole time, she is like...hmmm, that wasn't so bad. I think I want another.

I wish everyone's opinions were like mine (natural and safe over fear, control and convenience) but hey, I don't agree with most people on most things.

Sunflower

Lactivist Intactivist Don't take no flaktivist

__________________

Sunflower the unflower

Mom's Tinfoil Hat
Foodie loves Picky

24

I thought 24 hours was average...maybe my books were outdated. Mine was 13.
As far as I understood, it was not the loength of time but the progression that is the culprit?

Here's an article that you

Here's an article that you might find interesting:
http://www.acegraphics.com.au/articles/wagner01.html

I've read that labors used to be much longer...this doctor is saying that in the 1950's, they were an average of 36 hours, and then moved to about 24 hours in the 1960's to 12 hours in the 1970's. He attributes this to the fact that most hospitals have adopted policies that give a woman pitocin or a C-section after a certain amount of hours now. At the hospital by my house, you are given a C-section within 5 hours, if you get "stuck" at the same dilation for that long, even if the baby is not in distress. (Part of the reason I opted not to go there).
I had my first baby last month, at home in the water, and my labor was almost 40 hours long. The midwife said that it wasn't at all uncommon...her first was 40, and her second was only an hour. I know that my grandmother labored longer with her children than my mother did...though my mother was in a military hospital where they gave her pitocin. Every friend that I have who had her baby in the hospital was given pitocin. That'll make for statistics which shcw shorter labors.

__________________

"Fundamentally the markswoman aims at herself" DT Suzuki

Great article! Thanks for

Great article! Thanks for posting it...
YOu just can't always trust the doctors, they fall victim to the misguided alturism, too....

"certified kick ass by dreammama"

__________________

"certified kick ass by dreammama"

yes yes yes

Unreasonable expectations set up moms for unnecessary surgery. There is so much BS and confusion and uselss fear tied up in birth. Yes, 13 hours is SHORT for a total labor experience. And, 5 BILLION people got here that way that are on Earth right now. Women are freaked out of their minds over something that we ALL have in common and is as natural as it gets.

Sunflower

Lactivist Intactivist Don't take no flaktivist

__________________

Sunflower the unflower

Mom's Tinfoil Hat
Foodie loves Picky

in my pre-natal class

we were told that average labour is 18 hours. i'm not exactly sure where that data was from (and was probably a canadian stat.)
funny, i was scared of that before giving birth, but i would gladly take 18hrs after going through 36!

heard that!

48+ for me with my first, only 7 for my second.
My friends' was 4 hours start to finish with her second and she said she was scared out of her mind, how it just went too fast.
I'm sure there are all kinds of factors that come in to play with regards to length of labor.
I was never frightened to go through labor. I was actually thrilled at the prospect of going through this process which I didn't have control over. It was for me, an exciting voyage.

__________________

We need to feel the cheer and inspiration of meeting each other, we need to gain the courage and fresh life that comes from the mingling of congenial souls, of those working for the same ends.
Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.