31/05/2025
A good post.
While a speedy labor might sound desirable when you’re thinking ahead to birth - as any mama who has had a ‘precipitous labor’ can relate - it can also feel intensely overwhelming - and even traumatic, especially if you’re not prepared for that reality.
Most women who go into labor spontaneously will experience a warm-up period that gets their body and mind ready, slowly, over hours and days, throughout various early labor stages.
Precipitous labor jumps right into the intensity + speed of active labor, sometimes right into the depth of transition - skipping over not only the mental warm up but the oxytocin buffer that evolutionarily has been developed as natural pain management.
A short labor can feel overwhelming and scary - like a freight train moving through you, while you’re trying to grab onto the handrails! This isn’t unsafe for you or baby - it’s just moving FAST!
Key: Stay calm, trust your body, and use your skills like comforting positions and deep breathing techniques.
If you’re trying to get to the birth center or hospital and feel like pushing (or pooping!)
* Try hands and knees or elbows down with butt up in the air to take the pressure off + pant like you are trying to keep a feather up in the air.
* Laying on your side with your knees drawn up can help.
* Blow like you are extinguishing a candle to reduce the intensity of the push - you can’t stop it per se, but you can ease it a bit.
The good news is these births often go really well. Your mind just needs to catch up to what your body is doing! Sometimes easier said than done - with some need to process it postpartum.
Friends saying “You’re lucky that was so fast!”? Well.... it’s actually totally valid to feel that the experience was overwhelming - or traumatic - and you’re the only one who gets to make that call.
What were your births like? Were your labors fast? Long? How did that feel to you? How did you integrate and process this postpartum? Love to hear your stories in the comments!
Post- rom MD
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