I'm always in awe of midwives knowledge, especially those who challenge the status quo and push back on the 'well, that's just how things are done around here' approach. I wanted to share an article on 'the anterior cervical lip' - which is about a woman's urge to 'push before full dilation'.
I sent this article to a close friend who had a difficult experience with exactly this - the article gave her great comfort to know that perhaps her body wasn't lying to her after all, and her body certainly did not 'fail' her!
Her birth was going incredibly well for the duration and she was managing perfectly well in the birth pool, until she was instructed to get out. The birth centre only had one birth pool, the midwife had finished her shift for the day and staff on the night shift had called in sick. This meant she wasn't 'allowed' to stay in the pool due to staff shortage, so at about 8cm dilated she was told to get out and plonked in a wheelchair.
Back on dry land she had a powerful urge to push, but she was instructed not to because it was 'too soon' - as when she was examined she was 'only 8 cm'. In order to stop her urge to push ( which was impossible for her) she was told she 'must have' have an epidural, which she reluctantly accepted - and it all went a bit out of her control from then on.
This story is not intended to scare anyone, its the reality of someone's experience and if your birth centre only has one birth pool perhaps it will encourage you to ask questions so you can consider all your options and make informed decisions.
I thought the article 'How to ruin a perfectly good birth' written by midwife Dr Rachel Reed may just help someone else who has perhaps had a similar experience with regards to 'early pushing' and they are looking for more information.
Dr Rachel Reed writes her blog to stimulate thinking and share knowledge and it is not written to give advice, and if like me you are not medically qualified, Rachel still manages to get her message across without using medical jargon!
Further reading - Pushing : leave it to the experts
