Rapid and urgent labor: confusion of concepts

2023 Author: Alfred Shackley | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 13:14

Expecting mothers expecting a baby are forced to familiarize themselves with many medical terms. Sometimes they are faced with "terrible" diagnoses, which in fact turn out to be harmless, normal phenomena. The concept of "urgent labor" heard by a pregnant woman often shocks her, who decides that for some reason she needs to give birth quickly, ahead of time. Meanwhile, this term has a completely different meaning that you need to know.

What does urgent delivery mean?

Urgent childbirth occurs in the period from the 37th to the end of the 42nd week, that is, the appearance of the baby is not at all premature: he will be born on time.

The large gap in the time frame is explained by the fact that the periods of childbirth are different for all women. Someone is ready to meet with their baby already at the 37th week, while someone will have to wait until the very end of the term. This is not considered a pathology: just each organism is individual, you cannot predict the exact date of delivery.

In terms of duration, urgent labor can be quite protracted: from nine to eighteen hours. This is especially true for women giving birth for the first time. Therefore, the occurrence of contractions should not cause panic and fear in a woman in labor that she will not have time to get to the hospital. On the contrary, if the pregnancy was proceeding normally, there were no special instructions, you can carefully, without unnecessary worries, get together and arrive at the maternity ward.

Urgent childbirth: their varieties

The classification is based on the method of delivery and includes two types of timely delivery:

1. Urgent spontaneous childbirth, carried out without medical intervention. Natural birth, without additional operations, is very useful for the baby, however, situations when a woman gives birth on her own are far from common. It depends on many factors: the age of the woman in labor, her state of health, the structure of the pelvis, etc. If there is a risk that spontaneous childbirth will harm the mother or baby, the nursing staff offers other ways of giving birth to the baby.
2. Urgent operative childbirth, when the medical staff helps the woman to give birth, for example, through a caesarean section. It used to be thought that this method of delivery was dangerous and harmful for the baby. However, in the absence of contraindications to the operation, there will be no risk to his health or life. The only disadvantage of a cesarean section is that a child born in this way has lower immunity than a child born without surgery. But medicine has various means that, without harm to the child's body, will help to increase its protective functions.

The indications for surgery are:

• too long labor (more than twelve hours);
• gradual weakening of labor;
• bleeding;
• change in the baby's heart rate.

In addition to cesarean section, other methods of fetal extraction are carried out:

1. The use of obstetric forceps, with which the doctor, gently grabbing the baby by the head, pulls it out. The safety of this method depends entirely on the skills of the doctor, who must be able to work with such a tool so as not to harm the baby.
2. Vacuum extraction is a procedure during which a special cup attached to a pump is placed on the child's head. The latter creates a vacuum between the surface of the cup and the baby's skin. With this device, the doctor gradually removes the fetus.
3. Perineal incisions are necessary when rapid childbirth occurs: in this case, there is a threat of rupture of the perineal tissue. This is a small operation that does not pose any danger to the life of the mother or baby. The decision about whether to carry it out is made already during labor.

Surgery should not scare the expectant mother, because today it has no dangerous consequences. Sometimes this is the only way to keep the child alive. Experienced doctors will perform the operation efficiently, help the baby to be born healthy.

Urgent rapid childbirth

Many believe that a long duration of labor is a bad sign and, if a woman is in the maternity ward for more than ten hours, they begin to worry, predicting a negative outcome of what is happening.

However, a long delivery is normal, which is not the case with rapid delivery. The latter occur within four hours, if the birth is the first, or two - in other cases.

The danger of such a phenomenon is due to the inability of the body to prepare so soon for the appearance of the child, and this entails ruptures of the perineum or injury to the fetus, which is undergoing too much pressure due to rapid contractions.

The reasons for the rapid delivery can be the following factors:

• The presence of gynecological diseases.
• Improper pregnancy, development of pathologies.
• Hormonal disruptions, metabolic disorders.
• Constant stress, high excitability of the nervous system.
• Too early or late age of the woman in labor.

Rapid labor can be urgent, premature, or late. Strong contractions occur continuously, and the baby is born almost immediately.

An intermediate link between a normal and rapid delivery is a fast delivery, which is carried out in four to six hours.

How to induce labor urgently?

Sometimes a pregnant woman does not give birth to a baby after the 42 weeks indicated by the norm. If such a situation arises, the doctor should suggest to speed up the labor process by artificial means. This is necessary, since the consequences of overriding the fetus are dangerous to its health.

There are stationary and folk methods of childbirth. It is important to understand that the life of not only a woman, but also her future baby depends on a competent approach to this issue. Therefore, you should not turn to untested methods of how to induce childbirth at home. Stationary delivery stimulation occurs only under the supervision of a specialist, which ensures a successful resolution of the problem.

Methods that induce in-patient labor include the following:

1. Amniotomy - opening the fetal bladder, which helps to stimulate labor. It is very important to conduct an examination before the procedure in order to exclude contraindications. During the operation, the woman does not experience any pain. An amniotomy is prescribed when it turns out that the cervix of the pregnant woman is not yet fully ripe. Childbirth begins within two to three hours after the procedure.
2. Introduction of Oxytocin. It is a drug that replaces the natural hormone of the pituitary gland, which affects the contraction of the uterus. The medication is injected into the body of a pregnant woman through a dropper. Oxytocin has contraindications: the presence of any operations on the uterus, a tendency to increased intraocular pressure, asthma.

If it was decided to speed up delivery, it is necessary to constantly measure the baby's heartbeat. This is done using either a cardiograph or a stethoscope.

For the normal course of any birth process, you need to remember about the psychological state and proper nutrition of the expectant mother. The use of vitamins, the absence of stress, good sleep will help the body cope with a difficult task for it and recover faster after childbirth.