Premature Pushing
Just looking to make sense of my experience.
I had hoped and prepared for an unmedicated hospital birth, but unfortunately ended up with an unplanned c section.
I went into labour spontaneously, but I was GBS+ and labour started with my water breaking, so we had to head to hospital much sooner than I hoped for. Contractions started around 7:30pm as we drove to the hospital and were fairly mild to start.
Received my antibiotics in triage and was only 2cm dilated, so they gave us the option to augment with oxytocin to be admitted, or labour at home for a few hours un the next round of antibiotics. Chose to go home, contractions increased their intensity but I was getting through with the yoga ball.
12:30am back to hospital for next round of antibiotics. Still only 2cm. Shortly after the antibiotics were administered, contractions got so intense I felt I could not stand up and had to stay in the bed.
Then (and this is the part I need help understanding), my body started pushing. Not I had the urge to push, I was pushing and I couldn’t stop. I informed my midwife who recommended an epidural to stop the pushing, because yep I was still only 2cm. I agreed, because I felt at that point I was not just in pain but was suffering.
It took a few hours to finally get admitted/get the epidural, and during those hours I was having contractions every 2-3 min, each with involuntary pushing. There were maybe only 3 contractions where I successfully resisted, and it took everything in me and more. It was awful.
Long story short, after the epidural there was fetal heart distress that wasn’t resolving, and my labour was also barely progressing, so I agreed to a c section.
This is our first child, and we are hoping for another in a few years. I’d love to attempt a VBAC, but what worries me the most was that pushing experience. It was unreal, and completely unexpected. I hadn’t come across a similar experience in the birth stories I went through in preparation. And since, I have searched the internet so much and can’t find anything! I see the idea of involuntary pushing happening more at 8-10cm, but nothing as early as 2. I feel like without understanding what brought it on, I have no idea what to do if that were to happen again. Hoping someone had some kind of similar experience they can share!