I’m scheduled for a c section at 39+6 and trying to get the date moved a bit earlier to the beginning of 39 weeks because of birth phobia. If I go into labour on my own they told me to go right in and they bump me up from “elective” to “emergency”. However, if I’ve just recently eaten there’s a good chance I’ll have to wait a few hours. There’s also the risk of being pushed back if there are other women and babies that need to go first (which is completely understandable and I’m happy for them to go first!). So now my big fear is I’ll labour too quickly and miss my window for c section. I feel like the only thing I can do to prevent that is to basically not eat so that won’t be a factor if the time comes, and to essentially stay in bed rest to avoid kick starting labour. And yes, my doctors are well aware and not happy but I am too scared to do anything different at this point.

So how long was everyone’s labour from very first contractions/water breaking to delivery? The midwife said the average first time labour is 18 hours but I definitely know women who popped out their babies in under two hours.