CHECK DILATION WITHOUT VAGINAL EXAM

[vbacmom]

Heart and Hands also says that a woman is getting ready to push if she has goose bumps on her bum.

10 years ago in my doula training, the midwife who was teaching it said you can check dilation by looking at how far over the mother is leaning if she is upright. Like a mom at 4 cm. would be just leaning over slightly but a mom at 8 cm. would be leaning way forward with her legs spread far apart. It was that way with me and I have noticed it with other laboring moms too.

Mary

[triciaohiomidwife]

Another AAMI student... AWESOME!
What's your class ID? I'm NC7

[Delightful Doula]

Originally Posted by vbacmom

Heart and Hands also says that a woman is getting ready to push if she has goose bumps on her bum.

Mary

Yes, I have noticed those goosebumps one several clients. I always wondered about that.

[DeniseAK]

Jackie~ as far as inductions, I am sooo anti-induction right now, especially if not medically neccessary. A very close friend of mine was told they had to induce her because the baby would be over 11 lbs and shoulder dystocia was very possible. I've known her for years, and we are very close. She would have had no problems birthing her son at full term. She has a beautiful roomy pelvis built for having babies. They induced her at 37 weeks it took 3 days and then they decided to give her a csection because she wouldnt progress past 3 cm. Her son had breathing problems ( obvoiusly wasnt ready yet) and had to be in the nursery for a few days. By the time she got to be with baby, he was suffering from nipple confusion, and preferred bottles. She got flustered and frustrated because of this and from the fact that the nurses never told her that when you pump in the 1st few days you arent gonna get more thatn a few ozs anyways, so she thought she was losing her milk. There was no lactation consultant at this hospital either. By the time her dh got ahold of me to help , she had already given up on her ability to nurse her baby. She didnt even want to try anymore. She felt bad when baby cried for a bottle so she gave up. She is however nmore than willing to try again with the next time she gets pregnant. Induction is just not a good idea unless it is very necessary to save the life of mama and/or baby. Let the baby bake until ready to be born. Sooooo much better for baby and mama both. Just my opinion tho.

[Alaska_Birth]

Has anyone heard of the two small indentations that appear on the small of moms back during labor? The usally tell you that Baby is moving farther down and the mom is almost dilated if not completly when they appear.

[beautiful*birth]

Originally Posted by DeniseAK

Jackie~ as far as inductions, I am sooo anti-induction right now, especially if not medically neccessary. A very close friend of mine was told they had to induce her because the baby would be over 11 lbs and shoulder dystocia was very possible. I've known her for years, and we are very close. She would have had no problems birthing her son at full term. She has a beautiful roomy pelvis built for having babies. They induced her at 37 weeks it took 3 days and then they decided to give her a csection because she wouldnt progress past 3 cm. Her son had breathing problems ( obvoiusly wasnt ready yet) and had to be in the nursery for a few days. By the time she got to be with baby, he was suffering from nipple confusion, and preferred bottles. She got flustered and frustrated because of this and from the fact that the nurses never told her that when you pump in the 1st few days you arent gonna get more thatn a few ozs anyways, so she thought she was losing her milk. There was no lactation consultant at this hospital either. By the time her dh got ahold of me to help , she had already given up on her ability to nurse her baby. She didnt even want to try anymore. She felt bad when baby cried for a bottle so she gave up. She is however nmore than willing to try again with the next time she gets pregnant. Induction is just not a good idea unless it is very necessary to save the life of mama and/or baby. Let the baby bake until ready to be born. Sooooo much better for baby and mama both. Just my opinion tho.

Thanks for the support. Yes, I, too, have never been induction happy! Another Doula and I were discussing the dilation check using your xyphoid space and thought that being induced with Pit. might make the space appear to be smaller=further dilated than really was? Does that make sense? Since Pit causes way stronger CTX., but I didn't know of anyone who has tried this method with a Pit. mommie. We need an experiment!

BTW, mom ended up with an emer.c-sec.

I haven't noticed the goose bumps on the bum or indentations either, but will have to look for them, thank you Ladies!

[clairec]

I do love the purple line if upright/kneeling and it works so well (very obvious in water) as it climbs up the dilation increases.

Also around transition the smell in the room changes

[vbacmom]

Another midwife told me to look for the anus winking when the mom is pushing to tell if the baby is moving down. I've noticed there is a definite wink going on.
Mary

[DeniseAK]

I have noticed the smell, I have only been to one birth that wasnt mine, but even with mine I noticed the smell. Kind of a meaty, earthy smell to me. I thought it was just me! I will have to try and notice it next time!

[clairec]

I tend to find if I notice that smell if I then look there is often a heavy bloody show - not sure if that causes the smell

[CbirthRev]

The anus also BULGES tremendously as the baby's head applies pressure. This is very obvious in any hands/knees type position.

[teachinmamaof4]

This is a great thread!!!

[DeniseAK]

I have noticed anal bulging in squatting position too. Isnt it amazing how the female body works? Makes you wonder about the term pussy (excuse my language) being used to denote a person who is weak or too scared to do something. must have been used first by a man.lol

[CbirthRev]

Originally Posted by DeniseAK

Makes you wonder about the term pussy (excuse my language) being used to denote a person who is weak or too scared to do something. must have been used first by a man.lol

Reminds me of my favorite book! It's called Cunt by Inga Muscio. All women should read this book!

[DeniseAK]

sounds interesting I think I will try to find that book.