How fast is labor with 3rd child

One mom shares : "All of my labors have been reduced by half or more. My first was over 48 hours twins, early. My second was 14 hours. My third was 7 hours. My fourth was 2 hours. And out of all the comments only one experienced a longer delivery. My conclusion: Nobody, even doctors, really knows whether labor will move more quickly with a subsequent child.

The speed of labor depends on so many factors, size of the baby, your lifestyle during the pregnancy, your body type, your birth history. While it seems like things could go faster, it's best to take my ob's advice and "be prepared for anything. How long was labor with your first, second, third? Did things speed up with each subsequent child? What's the age spread between each of your children? Join now to personalize.

Photo credit: iStock. My son shot out like a rocket in one hour. My husband barely made it to the hospital. This can help explain why you may see slight differences in labor times when reading up on the topic. The phases of stage 1 are generally defined as follows:. Some doctors and researchers consider the early labor and active phases of stage 1 one and the same. And since early labor doesn't happen in the hospital in most cases, it is hard for its duration to always be accurately measured.

This is likely why it doesn't appear in much of the data that analyzes the length of labor—and why many studies vary in how it is documented. For this reason, many hospitals record data for active labor only. Women who remain in the first stage of labor for more than 17 hours are more likely to be considered for interventions to move things along. Common options include:. Some doctors are more conservative than others when making these determinations. Doctors will consider multiple factors—including recommended laboring time limits and whether or not the mother and baby appear to be doing well—when deciding how long to let labor continue.

The length and experience of each labor are different for every woman and pregnancy. Though the duration of one's labor can't be guaranteed, there are a variety of factors that can influence it. Some include:. What laboring mothers experience has changed over time with the advent of pain interventions, new offerings at hospitals such as baths for water births , and much more. Labor time has changed too, mainly due to when women are choosing to have their babies and how doctors are now approaching later-stage deliveries.

A study done by the NIH compared data on almost , spontaneous, singleton births from two time periods: and The review showed that the average time spent in active labor was longer for first-time moms in the more recent years than the earlier ones, when most labor patterns began to be recorded 6. Researchers attributed this to a variety of factors, the first one being that maternal age has increased.

At the time of giving birth, the mothers in the early s were, on average, about 4 years older than the women who gave birth in the s.

The study researchers cited that older mothers tend to take longer to give birth than younger mothers, as noted above. In s-era deliveries, many doctors used a surgical incision episiotomy to enlarge the vaginal opening during delivery or surgical instruments to extract the baby from the birth canal. Those interventions may speed delivery but are now less common due to the potential of adverse effects.

Today, doctors may intervene when labor fails to progress by administering Pitocin or performing a C-section. In fact, the rate of Cesarean delivery was four times higher in the early s than it was 50 years prior. These are very different delivery procedures that can have an effect on labor and delivery data. Furthermore, despite some lingering reluctance by some doctors, others may allow women to labor longer than in the past. A comprehensive review of research on labor in low-risk women noted that many women can safely continue to labor at the edges of the duration typically considered safe or longer as long as the labor is progressing and both mother and child are doing well.

Knowing how long your labor will last would probably help satisfy some curiosity about the unknown. Unfortunately, like most everything with parenting, labor time isn't scripted. The average labor times can give you a sense of what you might experience, but your mind may be better focused on remaining flexible when it comes to your expectations and embracing the fact that every labor is unique.

Get diet and wellness tips to help your kids stay healthy and happy. March of Dimes. It is claimed that Sigmund Freud himself was one of these babies. But most of the time, if waters break and the baby is at term, then labour and birth are not far away, if not already underway. One large study found that three-quarters of women whose waters had broken went into labour within 24 hours , the majority without induction. Those hoping for drama might be disappointed, because even when the waters breaking is the first signal that labour is about to start, the amniotic fluid can just seep out gradually, rather than in one big gush.

If you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc. Medical Myths Health. The truth about three childbirth myths. Share using Email. By Claudia Hammond 27th November Some myths about babies and what brings on labour have proved remarkably persistent.