May 11

“Nobody Has A Labor That Long Without A Cesarean Section…”

“Nobody has a labor that long without a cesarean section. I don’t believe you!” – Family Practice doctor to mother who had a 30 hour labor.

70 people dislike these words.

There are 43 comments to this post.

Jaime had this to say, May 11, 2012 @ 2:27 pm (Quote)

I did. Had 35 hours actually.

[Reply]

Cameron had this to say, May 11, 2012 @ 2:30 pm (Quote)

I did too. 34 hours.

[Reply]

Trish had this to say, May 11, 2012 @ 2:47 pm (Quote)

I have a 10 month old baby that took me 4 DAYS in the hospital to have. I was on pitocin for 50 hours total, 12 hours at the end with an epidural. I was attempting my 2nd VBAC and my Dr’s said as long as I could handle it and the baby was doing ok they wouldn’t put a time limit on it, they even broke my water the 3rd day and didn’t give me the old “24 hour” rule. There are GOOD Dr’s out there thankfully!

[Reply]

Tee Reply:
May 11th, 2012 at 5:45 pm Tee(Quote)

That is awesome!

[Reply]

Kristin had this to say, May 11, 2012 @ 2:48 pm (Quote)

36 hours total.
No surgery involved.

I hope the OP showed the Dr her scar free belly just before she told him/her that he/she was a jerk and left.

[Reply]

Nikki W had this to say, May 11, 2012 @ 2:49 pm (Quote)

Mine was 28 so close enough. No meds either so suck it doctor. lol

[Reply]

mags had this to say, May 11, 2012 @ 2:52 pm (Quote)

Mine! Can’t pink the link on my phone.

This dr also damn near refused to give me amoxicillin because I was breastfeeding.

I fired him when his nurse suggested weaning when breastfeeding was going great.

[Reply]

Jane Reply:
May 11th, 2012 at 2:56 pm Jane(Quote)

Wow what a winning practice! Criminy. So he called you a liar, refused to look up the safety of an antibiotic you presumably needed, and has a staff member who dispenses unsolicited advice about how to feed an infant. Glad you left.

[Reply]

Lacey Jane had this to say, May 11, 2012 @ 2:52 pm (Quote)

HA. What an idiot. My labor was 50 straight hours with my water broken for 46 of them. I had my daughter on my bedroom floor. Easy peasy. My husband caught her. Maybe that Dr. Has not LET anyone go over 30 hours. What a shame. Sometimes normal birth takes time!!

[Reply]

adrienne Reply:
May 11th, 2012 at 5:54 pm adrienne(Quote)

my SIL did 50 hours, too. in a birthing center. the MW’s suggested going to the hospital but she refused because she didn’t want an epidural, pitocin, or a c-section, and couldn’t think of anything else a hospital might offer her.

[Reply]

Ashley had this to say, May 11, 2012 @ 3:02 pm (Quote)

40+ hours with 4 hours pushing. No surgery here either

[Reply]

Nerd-faced Girl had this to say, May 11, 2012 @ 3:08 pm (Quote)

50 hours here, start to finish. Pitocin after 30 hours and Nubain a couple hours after the Pitocin started. Vaginal birth, no epidural. Zombaby? Or is my name “Nobody.”

[Reply]

North of 49 had this to say, May 11, 2012 @ 3:10 pm (Quote)

UGH!!!! I had been in and out of labour for weeks because I have a “spastic uterus.” I don’t count hours for my labours, I count weeks. But once I get to 3 cm, my labour is very short. Less than 4 hours short. But since I’ve been dealing with labour for on and off of two months or more by then, I’m happy it is sooooo short.

[Reply]

Sheva Reply:
May 12th, 2012 at 9:04 pm Sheva(Quote)

Is THAT what ‘on-and-off-for-weeks’ labor is called?? Mine is also short after 4 cm, but it drags for a long time, first.

[Reply]

amelia had this to say, May 11, 2012 @ 3:45 pm (Quote)

I must not exist then since my mom was in labour for well over 30 hours. And all of the other women I know who had 40, 50, 60 hour labours….they must have imagined it.

[Reply]

Alison had this to say, May 11, 2012 @ 3:51 pm (Quote)

36 hours with 4 of those hours pushing. Finally got him out naturally, the hold up was mom was nervous because it hurt! First baby, you don’t know. Thanks to a very patient and ballsy midwife (who sent the Drs. away) I was able to get the birth I wanted.

[Reply]

Rach had this to say, May 11, 2012 @ 4:05 pm (Quote)

Not to belittle hard prodromal labours, but when I’m looking after a woman I never count the hours until she’s in active labour otherwise the Docs would love to interfere!

[Reply]

lizzie k had this to say, May 11, 2012 @ 4:09 pm (Quote)

From what I have heard, that’s not uncommon, especially for first babies. I got lucky and my first was only about nine hours, but it seems I am the exception, not the rule.

[Reply]

Teri had this to say, May 11, 2012 @ 4:11 pm (Quote)

I was in labour for 36 hours but my hospital papers say 1 hour 45 because thats how long i was pushing (or getting the urge to push anyway) I think maybe the Dr thought 30 hrs of pushing but to call you a liar is just wrong. This is a case of an up himself dr who’d rather belittle somebody then show ‘weakness’ because he’s not entirely clear what you meant.

[Reply]

Jenny Islander Reply:
May 11th, 2012 at 4:36 pm Jenny Islander(Quote)

I think it’s a case of a doctor who looks at a chart that says that most labors go like “this” and assumes that all labors must go like “this” and any woman who reports a labor that went like “that” must be talking crazy talk or lying. The old “average equals absolute” fallacy we’ve seen so many times in posts on this site.

Or perhaps he has never “let” “his” laboring moms go that long without cutting because he was absolutely sure that they would all fall down and die, but here you are not dead, and now he is grappling with the uncomfortable thought that he cut some people unnecessarily.

[Reply]

Nica had this to say, May 11, 2012 @ 4:44 pm (Quote)

My mom labored 30 hours with my sis and then had a vaginal birth. So, you’re wrong doc!

[Reply]

Tee had this to say, May 11, 2012 @ 5:48 pm (Quote)

Newsflash, doc… just because you haven’t seen something doesn’t mean it can’t happen or doesn’t exist. And if you wouldn’t get all impatient and anxious to get home, you’d likely have seen many, many labors that go beyond 30 hours with absolutely no problems! So sit back, shut up and let your patient do what their body was made to do… give birth!

[Reply]

WellBegun had this to say, May 11, 2012 @ 6:09 pm (Quote)

My fourth was 8 days – after 12 days of prodromal labor. Born naturally, out of hospital.

[Reply]

WellBegun had this to say, May 11, 2012 @ 6:16 pm (Quote)

Contrast this with the excellent FP I’ve had the pleasure of doing several births with… Mom had been in labor for over 36 hours, almost all of which I’d been there for (I was the doula).

Doctor whispered to me (oops, found out later Mom overheard the conversation, but fortunately it had a net positive effect): “Have you ever seen a labor this long end… naturally?” I replied with complete confidence, “sure! Happens all the time.” And it did for this birth, thanks to patience and a supportive care provider (as well as the rest of the team… Well, the nurse could have done a bit better, but she went AWOL and we, um, didn’t go looking for her).

[Reply]

Kat had this to say, May 11, 2012 @ 6:34 pm (Quote)

I was born unmedicated after about 48 hours of labor.

Woot! I am a zombie! Pass the braaaains.

[Reply]

Isella Reply:
May 11th, 2012 at 9:17 pm Isella(Quote)

Oooh, a fellow zombie!

I was born after 33 1/2 (my mother will NOT let me forget the 1/2!) hours of nearly unmedicated labor save for a little bit of pitocin at the end.

Braaaaains!

[Reply]

Lisa had this to say, May 11, 2012 @ 7:52 pm (Quote)

My last labor/birth was 5 days and 2 hours pushing, my daughter was born with her arm wrapped around her head.

I guess she doesn’t exist.

[Reply]

Mama Wrench Reply:
May 12th, 2012 at 8:07 am Mama Wrench(Quote)

My MIL was in labor for 35 hours with my husband, I thought THAT was long but holy poops!

[Reply]

Catherine had this to say, May 11, 2012 @ 8:07 pm (Quote)

40 hours of active labor. It wasn’t fun, but I got through it.

[Reply]

Jewels had this to say, May 11, 2012 @ 8:11 pm (Quote)

So, I just *imagined* that 36 hour labour? The 35+ hours of active labour? The 12+ hours of transition? The 8+ hours of pushing?

Or did I just forget the C-section? If so, they did an amazing repair job, since I’ve never been able to see a scar! And they must’ve accidentally slipped & cut my perineum during surgery, it’s the only way to explain why I have a scar *there* then…

[Reply]

Heidi had this to say, May 11, 2012 @ 9:20 pm (Quote)

Baby #1 – 12 hours, start to finish (45 minutes pushing)

Baby #2 – 48 hours prodromal labor, 12 hours active labor (30 minutes pushing)

Baby #3 – 16 hours to get from 0-3 cm; 20 hours to get to 5 cm; 15 REALLY bad minutes to get to 10 cm. Baby was born with NO PUSHES. I was talking and she was out.

Baby #4 10 DAYS prodromal labor. (Ugh. I do not judge people who are sick of being pregnant. I know I was!) 36 hours of true labor that then stalled. I was checked and found not to have dilated at all since I had been seen five days before. Went to the hospital for an NST, went into LABOR labor, had the baby 5 hours later. 20 minutes of pushing–which I considered not bad for a 9 lb., 13 oz baby!

[Reply]

Jill had this to say, May 12, 2012 @ 7:13 am (Quote)

50 hours here! 36 hours at home, 9 at the birth center, 5 at the hospital. Ended up with an epidural and pitocin, but I had AWESOME midwives & nurses who dosed me very mildly — just enough to get me dilated and able to push. I was able to move & feel everything. No surgery.

[Reply]

Silja had this to say, May 12, 2012 @ 8:35 am (Quote)

Mine was 30 hours too (that is after waters broke, not counting beforehand). Ended up with vaccum extraction, but at least I got my VBAC

[Reply]

Molly had this to say, May 12, 2012 @ 12:34 pm (Quote)

I had a 47 hour labor. Suck it, hospital routine.

[Reply]

Sheva had this to say, May 12, 2012 @ 9:09 pm (Quote)

*PHEW* I just read all these posts – you ladies are AWESOME!
Someone show that idiot doc this page, please.
(Or will he just say we’re all lying…?)

[Reply]

Lizzie K Reply:
May 13th, 2012 at 7:09 am Lizzie K(Quote)

You’re all lying, obviously. I am the only one who’s telling the truth, since I had a nice easy short labor. /sarcasm

[Reply]

Shelley had this to say, May 12, 2012 @ 10:25 pm (Quote)

41 hours here! Just chiming in! And this was a natural, drug-free birth without so much as a Tylenol (wouldn’t have done anything anyway). I was so glad I’d switched to my midwife from my prior OB since my midwife let me labor as long as I wanted so long as baby and I were both fine–and we were! I’d switched at 33 weeks due to discovering my OB lying to me, but being high-risk I had to deliver at a hospital. My CNM was the perfect solution! With my prior OB I can guarantee you I would’ve wound up with a c-section.

[Reply]

Chelsie had this to say, May 13, 2012 @ 6:53 am (Quote)

<<< 32 1/2 hours of labor with my first, in hospital. 22 hours of labor with my second who was born 36 hours after ROM (at home).

[Reply]

Dana had this to say, May 13, 2012 @ 12:57 pm (Quote)

53 hours here, 17 of them in the hospital, 2 hours pushing. No nothing, not even a saline lock. There are patient, good hospitals and docs out there!

[Reply]

Kali had this to say, May 14, 2012 @ 7:39 pm (Quote)

I attend a 33 hour birth where the mom took 12 hours to get to 1.5cm (that is with 2-3 min apart HARD contractions). No surgery necessary. Also attended a 46 hour labor. No surgery.

[Reply]

Ellen had this to say, May 20, 2012 @ 9:35 pm (Quote)

I doula’d a 50-hour birth. Fortunately I was only there for 37 of ‘em

[Reply]

Echo had this to say, Jul 8, 2012 @ 9:00 pm (Quote)

:::raises hand:::

I started my labor on Friday morning- stalled at 6cm Friday night around 10pm. I was in on/off labor all weekend. Didn’t have my son until Monday night a little before 10pm.

[Reply]