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I pushed for less than an hour with my first (I’m not exactly sure the exact length of time) for 10-15 minutes with my 2nd, and less than a minute and 1 push with my third. I strongly believe if you’re in a position, like on your back, or a position that isn’t comfortable to you, it will make pushing take longer. Sometimes getting on your hands and knees, standing, etc, can help with how long it takes to push. I had all 3 of my babies at home (will be having my 4th homebirth) and it’s so nice being able to labor and push the way I feel most comfortable doing so. You don’t need coaching on how to push, or doctors or nurses telling you to “hold your breath” or keep pushing...your body starts pushing and will tell you when you need to keep pushing or stop. A lot of the times, the pushing being fast, isn’t always the best, sometimes it taking longer helps your perineum to stretch and prevent tearing. If it takes a while to push, it DOESNT mean something is wrong, or that baby is “too big” you could very well need to change positions, to allow more movement for baby to make it’s way through your pelvis. It’s crazy to think a doctor knows what you need to do to birth a baby more than the mother who is more aware of what HER body is feeling and wanting to do.
COMMENT (36)
La
Thank you for sharing this!! My pushing took FOREVER, but my circumstances and positioning were far from ideal (unfortunate medical complications) . On the plus side, I had no tearing or damage. Some of the comments here about push times are a little presumptuous, forgetting the cardinal rule of pregnancy, every person and pregnancy is different.
I've only had one baby before this, and she was out in about 5 minutes of "pushing"...but there was no real active effort on my part! It was more like my body pushed her out, if that makes sense.
Le
Second this! I had the same experience and listens to birthful the entire second and third trimesters.
Ca
Actually, I didn't realize it at the time but I had an amazing birth team that allowed my labor to progress physiologically. If you're interested in the pushing stage in particular, check out the Birthful podcast episode 189. And if you want a run down of how a labor progresses physiologically/undisturbed from start to finish, check out episodes 57 and 58. I wish I'd listened to them before my first birth!
I only pushed twice, I really don’t understand how women are pushing for hours, if you aren’t ready to push the baby will not come
As
It took a few hours for me, because he got stuck. I was just about wheeled off for an emergency c section. My midwife said if it takes more than half an hour for baby number two she will be shocked. Phew! 😆
Sh
I did a mixture of both (I had an epidural) for my first. Guided and spontaneous. It wasn’t non stop pushing either - I took rest breaks since he wasn’t progressing down the birth canal well. Some women have complications though that can increase the time it takes.
An
I guess it depends if you let your body lead or follow the nurse telling you to push. I have no intention of pushing until I feel the urge, you can’t not push at that point
First was close to 5 hours. I will say that’s probably abnormal and it shouldn’t be that long- I don’t want to scare anyone. For me, it was just one of those freak things and he had a lot of trouble in the birth canal pushing past my pelvic bone. Not sure if they’ll let you push much longer than that because of distress issues. They were prepping the emergency C-section room but my little babe finally pushed his way out. Hoping this one is much faster!
My first was almost 3 hours because I got an epidural and couldn't feel shit not even pressure and he was Sunnyside up so they also had to manually turn him while I was pushing. He also came out with his arm beside his head waving hello to the world 😂. My little difficult baby who is no longer a baby.
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