Ok ladies, for those of you who had a natural 3rd stage of labor, please tell me your story. For example, did you cut the cord after the placenta was out or just after it stopped pulsating. How long did it take? Basically, I want a birth story for your placenta....LOL. And gory details are welcome too:-D

I took the injection with Micah as I just didn't think and never researched it, I didn't really know any better. But since then I've heard about natural 3rd stage of labor and really want to do it. Just curious what your experience is with natural 3rd stage of labor. And yes Tara, I want all 6 stories:mrgreen:LOL. Just kidding, well kind of. If they are roughly the same then you can leave some out:-D How am I for a task master today eh?

So yeah, placenta birth stories please from those of you who have had natural 3rd stage.[loveyou]

ETA: Sorry for the spelling of labor in the title. I've been over here far too long....lol!

Oooooo I'm interested too! I don't know what "natural" means... unless it means that you had some kind of "help" delivering it?? When I birthed Eliya, I didn't have help delivering it, my midwife allowed me to birth it when I had a contraction. It happened on it's own, I didn't have to try. I even remember saying, "Oh wow, I'm having a contraction and need to push!" At first it didn't dawn on me what was going on... then I realized... "Oh, duh... placenta". My midwife kept gentle tension on the cord and then that was it. I don't think Eliya was cut from the cord until after the placenta was birthed. Does that sound right? I'm a little foggy on that one as she had pooped on me and that was kind of an exciting few minutes, right after birth~ ;)

Ok ladies, for those of you who had a natural 3rd stage of labor, please tell me your story. For example, did you cut the cord after the placenta was out or just after it stopped pulsating. How long did it take? Basically, I want a birth story for you placenta....LOL. And gory details are welcome too:-D


Here's the details for you. By the way, both births it was spontaneous, no drugs and no pulling it out.

My first birth, basically I was nursing Hannah and the midwife said to go ahead and push the placenta out, so I give a push or two and it came out.

After all was said and done, my husband and I burned it.

2nd birth: The midwife said go ahead and push, so I sighed and said, "I'm so done with pushing." The midwife encouraged me and I pushed a bit and it came out. This time I decided to consume the placenta after birth instead of throwing it away so I ate it in smoothies over the course of the first 7 days. If you're curious about why I would do that, click the links below to learn more. I have to say that I felt 1000% stronger, more emotionally stable, and less stressed after my 2nd birth than after my first. If I was ever so blessed as to have a 3rd child, I would do it again with no reservations. The placenta has a hormone called CrH for short that regulates stress levels. Mom's natural production of it during pregnancy pretty much stops during the 3rd tri, due to the placenta taking over the production of it. Consuming the placenta after birth helps keep the levels from crashing abruptly. Some women choose to dry and encapsulate it instead of using it how I did. But I'm lazy, what can I say. LOL.

http://www.naturalnews.com/026088.html
http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=361394

There you go. :D

Oooooo I'm interested too! I don't know what "natural" means... unless it means that you had some kind of "help" delivering it?? When I birthed Eliya, I didn't have help delivering it, my midwife allowed me to birth it when I had a contraction. It happened on it's own, I didn't have to try. I even remember saying, "Oh wow, I'm having a contraction and need to push!" At first it didn't dawn on me what was going on... then I realized... "Oh, duh... placenta". My midwife kept gentle tension on the cord and then that was it. I don't think Eliya was cut from the cord until after the placenta was birthed. Does that sound right? I'm a little foggy on that one as she had pooped on me and that was kind of an exciting few minutes, right after birth~ ;)

Yeah, by natural I mean that you didn't have an injection straight after birth to deliver the placenta. That you waited for it to come out on it's own. So yeah, I would say you had a natural 3rd stage.

Here's the details for you. By the way, both births it was spontaneous, no drugs and no pulling it out.

My first birth, basically I was nursing Hannah and the midwife said to go ahead and push the placenta out, so I give a push or two and it came out.

After all was said and done, my husband and I burned it.

2nd birth: The midwife said go ahead and push, so I sighed and said, "I'm so done with pushing." The midwife encouraged me and I pushed a bit and it came out. This time I decided to consume the placenta after birth instead of throwing it away so I ate it in smoothies over the course of the first 7 days. If you're curious about why I would do that, click the links below to learn more. I have to say that I felt 1000% stronger, more emotionally stable, and less stressed after my 2nd birth than after my first. If I was ever so blessed as to have a 3rd child, I would do it again with no reservations. The placenta has a hormone called CrH for short that regulates stress levels. Mom's natural production of it during pregnancy pretty much stops during the 3rd tri, due to the placenta taking over the production of it. Consuming the placenta after birth helps keep the levels from crashing abruptly. Some women choose to dry and encapsulate it instead of using it how I did. But I'm lazy, what can I say. LOL.

http://www.naturalnews.com/026088.html
http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=361394

There you go. :D

I have heard of women eating their placenta. Hmmm....might have to give that one more thought....lol. I was speaking to dh tonight about a natural 3rd stage (which he's all for), but when I mentioned the placenta he said he had a sneak peak last time and it was the ugliest thing he has ever seen....LOL. Might have to sneak it past him to get it in the house...LOL.

You'd be surprised at how DH's can change their mind. After my first birth, my DH heard of women eating their placenta and thought it was disgusting. After my 2nd birth, he helped make the smoothies, lol. He and my midwife cleaned the placenta and cut it into 8 pieces. Then they put 7 pieces in the freezer and my DH made me a smoothie with the first piece and brought it to me. I do love that man, lol. [lovesmile]

As you probably know, I'm normally a vegetarian (except for a few incidentals like gelatin based supplements) and I did not find eating the placenta to be disgusting. I did exotic combinations of fruit and juice so that I couldn't even taste it.

I had a natural labor/delivery and that carried right into delivering the placenta, I had no clue that there is a different way to do it, why would they give an injection? (Sorry bunny trail ;) ) Payton was immediately placed onto my chest and dh cut the cord, the contraction immediately after I pushed a bit and out it came, I remember my darling wonderful nurse saying 'you are now official un-pregnant' hehe. Considering we were at the birthing center they took care of it, I wouldn't be interested in it in any way whatsoever though, as far as I was concerned I was done with it lol.

I had a natural labor/delivery and that carried right into delivering the placenta, I had no clue that there is a different way to do it, why would they give an injection? (Sorry bunny trail ;) ) Payton was immediately placed onto my chest and dh cut the cord, the contraction immediately after I pushed a bit and out it came, I remember my darling wonderful nurse saying 'you are now official un-pregnant' hehe. Considering we were at the birthing center they took care of it, I wouldn't be interested in it in any way whatsoever though, as far as I was concerned I was done with it lol.

I was wondering this too~ If you have natural labor, why would they inject you to get you to deliver it? hhhmmm...

Oh, I just wanted to add that with both of my births the midwives waited until after the cord stopped pulsing to cut it. This gives the blood that is pulsing through to the baby and can be a helpful protection against anemia.

Didn't know they did injections.....all natural births in hospitals, delivered my placenta right after baby with next contraction....honestly, I don't know WHAT order things were cut/tied though, I really wan't *there* in my inquisitive thought process! LOL....I was more....is it breathing? LOL

I know some doctor's do try and rush it without the contraction which can cause harm, but both of my Dr's took the natural next contraction and went smoothly/gently.

Okay, no offense! Honestly! I truly admire you in so many ways....but I almost choked when you talked about eating the placenta BlessedMommy! LOL I have a HIGHLY wimpy stomach though! It sure does sound like it has benefits though, although I am not a strong enough woman to attempt it! What a woman!

Didn't know they did injections.....all natural births in hospitals, delivered my placenta right after baby with next contraction....honestly, I don't know WHAT order things were cut/tied though, I really wan't *there* in my inquisitive thought process! LOL....I was more....is it breathing? LOL

I know some doctor's do try and rush it without the contraction which can cause harm, but both of my Dr's took the natural next contraction and went smoothly/gently.

Okay, no offense! Honestly! I truly admire you in so many ways....but I almost choked when you talked about eating the placenta BlessedMommy! LOL I have a HIGHLY wimpy stomach though! It sure does sound like it has benefits though, although I am not a strong enough woman to attempt it! What a woman!

I understand how you feel. I felt that way too after I had my first baby! I thought that people who ate placenta were totally weird. After having PPD with my first kid, well, I would eat train tickets to avoid that again, lol!

I felt much stronger and my DH noticed that I was more emotionally stable. My first week postpartum was a night and day difference from last time. In addition to the other benefits that I mentioned in my post, the placenta provides protein, B vitamins, and iron, all of which help nourish a new mother. Placenta is also supposed to be helpful in preventing postpartum hemorrhage. Anecdotally, my PP bleeding stopped WAY sooner this time than it did last time.

My only regret was when my placenta ran out! [rofl] I wish that I had more of it.

I can totally understand someone else having an aversion to eating it though. :D

I had a natural labor/delivery and that carried right into delivering the placenta, I had no clue that there is a different way to do it, why would they give an injection?

Maybe it's just a UK thing. They give you an injection (you can refuse it) into your thigh right after baby is born that causes your uterus to contract really hard so that the placenta comes out fast and the hard contractions help to keep you from hemorrhaging. So basically you get the shot in your thigh and then the midwife pulls on the cord until the placenta comes out instead of just waiting til your body naturally does it. I thought the US would have done it to, but maybe they don't??

If you nurse right after delivery, you don't need a shot to contract your uterus as your baby's sucking helps contract the uterus. And your body will eventually expel the placenta without help normally. Pulling on the cord can CAUSE hemorrhage. There's no need to pull on it, just push it out gently with a contraction.

My birth stories are all at http://mybirthstories.wordpress.com I think I mention the placenta in some of them ???

Anyway, I never received anything to deliver any of them. I just sat back and settled in with the babe, cord attached, allowing them to play around with nursing. Then within 10 minutes or so I would start contracting to expel the placenta. Some were a bit later I believe, but I think around 10 was the average/earliest. (brain gets mighty fuzzy about these details ya know LOL)

Those contractions have been pretty intense for me. But, I think a lot of that just has to do with me thinking "it's over" once the baby's out, ya know? :p You've done all that work, baby is here, you've had time to relax and drink in the baby..then *whammo* (as Cosby would say) you're slapped stupid with a big ole contraction.

I have never had any traction put on the cord. No, wait, my midwife did do that a bit with one of them. Nothing major, just a wee bit of tension. Not sure why really. Things were moving along and I wasn't worried she was compromising anything so I didn't question at the time. It was very brief too. But anyway...

Stories linked above.

The shot you're talking about is quite possibly metheragine. (sp?) The midwife I saw for this pg sent some home with me. No, wait, because that one is only to be used for hemorrhage AFTER the placenta, because it clamps down so hard. Pitocin is to be used before placenta. Anywho... nevermind :p

they do the injection here in Australia and New Zealand too. I am didn't know too much about it / didn't really think about it but now am thinking I will put natural delivery of placenta in my birth plan. Blessedmommy - I also now think that I want to wait for it to stop pulsing thanks to your thread! Didn't think about it but letting the blood all flow back into baby is probably an important thing to do!! Ta!

I remember it being really easy. Baby goes right to breast and with the next contraction giving a little push and done. We did cut the cord before the placenta was delivered, with my son I remember it being kind of short and awkward to hold him. I do want to wait for the cord to quit pulsing this time. It is sort of in the background since you are so busy looking at your new baby and so happy to be mostly done labour yay! :-D So interesting seeing all the differences in care and how things are done.

they do the injection here in Australia and New Zealand too. I am didn't know too much about it / didn't really think about it but now am thinking I will put natural delivery of placenta in my birth plan. Blessedmommy - I also now think that I want to wait for it to stop pulsing thanks to your thread! Didn't think about it but letting the blood all flow back into baby is probably an important thing to do!! Ta!

Ali, here is a good website regarding the benefits of waiting til the cord stops pulsating. http://www.homebirth.org.uk/thirdstage.htm