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    Second Stage: The Pushing Phase of Labor
    Second Stage: The Pushing Phase of Labor
    Second Stage: The Pushing Phase of Labor
    Ebook85 pages1 hour

    Second Stage: The Pushing Phase of Labor

    By Midwifery Today

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    About this ebook

    A collection of articles from Midwifery Today magazine on the second stage of labor. Contributors include Michel Odent, Carol Gautschi and Cornelia Enning.
    Table of Contents:
    Chapter 1: “Understanding Stages of Labour after the Paradigm Shift” by Michel Odent
    Chapter 2: “An Overview of Upright Positions during Second Stage Labor” by Jeri Layer
    Chapter 3: “Second Stage Evolution” by Elizabeth Allemann
    Chapter 4: “Why Wait until Second Stage?” by Carol Gray
    Chapter 5: “Allowing Birth to Be Birth” by Kristi Zittle
    Chapter 6: “Getting Pushy” by Alison Bastien
    Chapter 7: “Midwifing Second Stage” by Sister MorningStar
    Chapter 8: “Redefining Normal” by Elizabeth Perry
    Chapter 9: “Supporting Motherbaby in Second Stage Waterbirth” by Cornelia Enning
    Chapter 10: “Getting to Second Stage” by Carol Gautschi

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMidwifery Today
    Release dateFeb 28, 2012
    ISBN9781890446178
    Second Stage: The Pushing Phase of Labor
    Author

    Midwifery Today

    Midwifery Today publishes a quarterly print magazine for midwives and other birth professionals. We also put on two or more conferences each year, publish books, e-books and offer a free e-mail newsletter.

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      Book preview

      Second Stage - Midwifery Today

      Second Stage: The Pushing Phase of Labor

      A Collection of Articles from Midwifery Today Magazine

      Edited by

      Nancy Halseide

      Copyright 2012 Midwifery Today, Inc.

      Published by Midwifery Today, Inc.

      Smashwords Edition

      *****

      Cover photo by Lora Denton

      www.loradentonphotography.com

      *****

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work that went in to compiling this ebook.

      Disclaimer

      This publication is presented by Midwifery Today, Inc., for the sole purpose of disseminating general health information for public benefit. The information contained in or provided through this publication is intended for general consumer understanding and education only and is not intended to be, and is not provided as, a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

      Midwifery Today, Inc. does not assume liability for the use of this information in any jurisdiction. Always seek the advice of your midwife, physician, nurse or other qualified health care provider before you undergo any treatment or for answers to any questions you may have regarding any medical condition.

      http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/MidwiferyToday

      *****

      Table of Contents

      Chapter 1: Understanding Stages of Labour after the Paradigm Shift by Michel Odent

      Chapter 2: An Overview of Upright Positions during Second Stage Labor by Jeri Layer

      Chapter 3: Second Stage Evolution by Elizabeth Allemann

      Chapter 4: Why Wait until Second Stage? by Carol Gray

      Chapter 5: Allowing Birth to Be Birth by Kristi Zittle

      Chapter 6: Getting Pushy by Alison Bastien

      Chapter 7: Midwifing Second Stage by Sister MorningStar

      Chapter 8: Redefining Normal by Elizabeth Perry

      Chapter 9: Supporting Motherbaby in Second Stage Waterbirth by Cornelia Enning

      Chapter 10: Getting to Second Stage by Carol Gautschi

      *****

      CHAPTER 1

      Understanding Stages of Labour after the Paradigm Shift

      by Michel Odent

      Copyright 2011 Midwifery Today, Inc. All rights reserved.

      Editor’s note: This article first appeared in Midwifery Today, Issue 98, Summer 2011.

      ~~~

      After a long history of socialised childbirth, a century of births concentrated in hospitals and decades of theories at the root of most schools of natural childbirth, the concepts of the first and second stages of labour are based mostly on information provided by repeated vaginal exams. Let us dream of a time when the basic needs of labouring women are rediscovered, and then the fetus ejection reflex will be understood.

      The fetus ejection reflex is a short series of irresistibly powerful contractions preceding the birth of the baby. During a fetus ejection reflex there is no room for voluntary movements. Niles Newton originally used this term in her studies of the birth of mice (Newton 1987). I found it relevant to human beings, who have more similarities with nonhuman mammals when the neocortex is at rest (Odent 1987).

      The fetus ejection reflex is not easily understood after a history of cultural interferences because the conditions that make it possible are uncommon in our societies. One of the usual ways to interrupt the process leading to a fetus ejection reflex is to use language when there is an obvious elimination of neocortical control, i.e., when the labouring woman suddenly says: Kill me, Shoot me, Let me die, Do anything, my bowels are going out…do a caesarean, etc.

      I am personally familiar with a situation that is compatible with an authentic fetus ejection reflex: when there is nobody around the labouring woman apart from an experienced and silent midwife perceived as a protective mother figure. Because basic, simple rules are not well digested, the fetus ejection reflex is more often than not transformed into a second stage of labour, with a need for voluntary movements. A typical fetus ejection reflex is associated with an ecstatic/orgasmic state, often described afterwards as a transcendent emotional state. The climax can be reached just after the birth, at the time of the first eye-to-eye contact between mother and newborn baby. It is noticeable that all cultural milieus have made this route to transcendence impossible (Odent 2009).

      When there is an authentic fetus ejection reflex, the midwife can forget her usual worries about shoulder dystocia, difficulties for the delivery of the head in the case of a breech presentation, a difficult process of rotation, dangerous perineal laceration, etc. These considerations are of paramount importance at a time when modern births—particularly modern homebirths—are becoming more and more difficult and, therefore, more and more dangerous (Wax et al. 2010; Evers et al. 2010).

      Understanding the art of midwifery as the art of creating the conditions for a fetus ejection reflex would pave the way for a real paradigm shift. For thousands of years cultural milieus have more or less controlled the physiological processes related to childbirth. They have done this by transmitting the now deep-rooted belief that a woman does not have the ability to give birth without the assistance of a helper. To help is a subtle way to control. This conditioning is still basically the same in medical and midwifery circles and in natural childbirth movements as well.

      The main lesson of modern physiology is that parturition is an involuntary process related to the activity of archaic brain structures. One cannot help an involuntary process, but certain situations can inhibit it. This leads to the realisation that labouring women do not need direct, active help. They mostly need protection against any factor that

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