prodromal labor - tips?

raspberrymoondoula · 01-12-2006, 09:04 AM

does anyone have any tips on prodromal labor? it seems like every other birth i go to the mom winds up laboring foreverrrrrrr, and i know its prodromal labor, they go on and on with no obvious progress and once they do hit active labor they move quite nicely. i do a lot of work prenatally on proper fetal positioning and stuff like that and get the babies in nice head down anterior positions....i know its more common for first time moms and primary vbacs. what else can i do?

teachinmamaof4 · 01-12-2006, 11:42 AM

UGH...I hate prodomal labor!! With my last two babies I had it for weeks!!!

Things I would do:
*Encourage her that her body IS doing something. Then encourage her some more.

*Just offer an ear if she needs to vent about it all. Sometimes it just helps to gripe about it to someone who understands what she's feeling! It gets really tiring hearing all the, "How are you feeling?" and sympathetic comments from well meaning family members. LOL!

*Suggest things like taking warm baths. For me at least, that always helped the cntx stop for a while so I could rest some. Once I was in active labor the bath didn't have that effect.

*I know this may be going above and beyond what a doula does but it would have been a HUGE help to me. If she has other children, maybe offer to come over and sit with them for a while so she could rest. Or if you are able and she's comfortable with it, take them to the park for a bit. Those last few weeks of my 4th pregnancy were so hard! I was tired, cranky, uncomfortable, TIRED (lol) and had three other little ones to care for. It would have been HEAVEN to have someone take them for even an hour just to get them out of the house. Having been thru that myself and knowing how hard it can be, I would be willing as a doula/friend to take that extra time so she could rest some.

Gentlebirthmama · 01-12-2006, 12:42 PM

Prodromal labor is so hard emotionally on the woman and even for those around her. It's like a roller coaster ride that never seems to end!

I agree that it's important to remind the woman that her body is doing something and getting lots of necessary work done in order to birth her baby.
The cervix dilating as we all know just doesn't tell much about where a woman is in labor.
I was at 3cm with my first for over 8 hours of my labor and then within in 20min. progressed to 9 1/2. With my second I was 7cm at the beginning of labor and it still took 5 hours to feel like pushing.
I was providing labor assistance to a woman who was 5cm when she got to the hospital and the nurse told her that she had hours to go! I just didn't believe it because this mother had all the signs of transition...sure enough she had to push a 1/2 hour later and the nurse wouldn't believe us...when she checked her dilation she was 10cm and the nurse panicked because the had told the doctor not to come in yet...the nurse caught the baby!

I teach extensively in my childbirth classes about reaching a plateau in labor where dilation doesn't continue for a while...this is where moms are told that they are 'stuck' or a 'failure to progress', my favorite! But it's quite common to plateau out for a while but that doesn't mean the mom isn't working hard...and most moms once they move past the plateau enter transition and are close to pushing.

I would encourage her to not concentrate on the labor anymore than she needs to. If she's up to it go out to eat, go see a movie, go walk the mall, whatever she may be comfortable doing to get her mind off of it for a while...or at least try to get her mind off of it!

Encourage lots of rest, fluid intake, warm showers/baths to help relaxation.
Avoid lots of VEs (depressing to hear that you're still at the same cm you've been at for hours).

It sounds like you are working with them prenatally to ensure certain things are in order and that's good, but sometimes it's just the way a woman's body needs to labor. I emotional issues play a big part in a labor being slower.
Encourage her to work out any issues she has...it could be about who's with her during labor. Maybe her MIL insists on being there but she really doesn't want her, or perhaps her and her husband have some problems, or she isn't comfortable with her nurse, or she's scared about what kind of mother she'll be. Any emotional hangups can play a big part in what our body does.

Anyway, just my random thoughts.

Blessings!
Amy

Kim Trower · 01-12-2006, 10:15 PM

I think emotional is huge...what is she holding onto? Does she still have any fears/concerns that she has not worked through. Mostly what everyone else has said, I totally agree with the plateau thing and educate my clients about at as well...dilation is only a number, has no bearing on when you will actually be birthing your baby.
Lots of hugs, moral support, maybe go over and do a foot massage, encourage lots of rest whenever she can as fatigue can change your perception of pain.

raspberrymoondoula · 01-16-2006, 12:27 PM

thanks all, we've been doing a lot of meditation and birth art and the contractions have stopped for now. i told her to sit with her baby and talk with her and tell her if its time to come out, get the show on the road otherwise stop and let her rest lol it does seem like the contractions are doing wrok- the first batch seemed to get the baby in a better position (sligthly transverse before hand) and now it appears this second batch the baby has dropped, hopefully next batch baby will just come out!

MyDoulaStacia · 08-28-2006, 06:01 PM

Alright, I have a client that is doing an adoption. She is having prodromal labor right now and is so miserable. From reading this post do you think it could be the fear that once this is over she will no longer have the baby? Could this be holding her labor back?

Gentlebirthmama · 08-28-2006, 07:03 PM

I had a 19 year old client a couple years ago that was going to give her baby up after the birth...her labor progressed nicely at first, then slowed way down as she hit active stage. I believe that it was an emotional thing for her, because there wasn't any physical reasons for the labor going slowly.

I think it's just really important to be available for the mom and impress upon her over and over that things are happening in her body, and when it's the right time labor will become more active.

Let us know how it goes.

ctowndoula · 08-29-2006, 09:26 AM

This is all great stuff, I would just add to think about baby's position. OP or malpositioned babes can cause prodomal labor too.
Look at spinningbabies.com for belly mapping if you need help.