this was mine! i loved this old german midwife who assured me early on that i could push in whatever position i felt comfortable. too bad when i got to the hospital the on-call midwife (whom i also liked) had 3 other births that night so i had no continuous labor support, went into active labor very early and stayed there for a LONG time with double-peaked contractions, until i finally got tired out. the midwife, unfortunately, didn’t have time to be with me one on one, and didn’t have a whole lot of creative ideas (like stairs or lunges, i believe would have helped – i think DS was a bit crooked and just not helping me dilate, and when my husband said we should go walk around outside our room i turned him down flat). we delayed the pit until it was really clear i needed it – like 8 hours after it was first mentioned – and then i got a light epidural, we all slept for 3 hours, and i woke up to push. almost two hours later, on my back with purple pushing and an otherwise great nurse, with just one skidmark. i remember thinking ironically during the pushing, how did i end up HERE?! lessons learned – get a doula!!