If you have taken my class, you will remember a popular phrase that I often repeat (and if you are going to take my class, you will hear me say this):
There is a bias towards short labors and labors that start earlier (i.e., right at the due date, and not too long after).
Who holds this bias? Pretty much everyone! Moms want short labors (and dread longer labors), friends and family want to know when you're giving birth and tell horror stories of long labors, doulas and childbirth educators brag about short labors, and most importantly--medical professionals and hospitals want you to have a short labor that starts right around your due date.
Statistically speaking, it is impossible for all labors to start right at the due date, especially with a median gestation length of 41 weeks/1 day (1 week + 1 day PAST the due date) for first-time moms and 40 weeks/3 days for moms who have given birth before. It is also impossible, statistically speaking, for every mother to have an exceptionally short labor, when the normal distribution always peaks around the average and tails off at either extreme.
The first problem with this is assuming that a long labor is a bad thing. That's a topic for another day--particuarly when short labors come on (guess?) very fast and can stop you in your tracks when you least expect it!! Long labors give you time to get used to the idea of your baby arriving soon. And they are not necessarily as intense as short labors--they creep up slowly and give your endorphins a chance to kick in, kind of like a long walk that builds gradually into a jog (rather than an instant sprint!).
The next, and most troublesome, problem with this bias towards slow labors is the medical response to such labors. The problem is that there is no open admission about this bias. It is a silent secret.
How do you know that the bias is creeping into your birthing room? Likely, you will hear threats of great harm being done to your baby, perhaps even death, declarations that your body is not working properly, or predictions of neverending labor and suffering, in the complete absence of any signs of distress or trouble (including the fetal heart rate), if you continue laboring as you are.
Here is a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) story that illustrates this--it is long, but well worth reading:
http://thefeministbreeder.typepad.com/the_feminist_breeder/2008/05/jules-michael-birth-story.html
You might think, Wow! How can something like that happen? How can doctors threaten a mother like that? Surely it must be a fluke!
No. It's not a fluke. In fact, it happens with virtually every mother that goes past her due date or experiences a longer-than-average labor or longer-than-average birthing (i.e. "pushing") phase. I see it all the time. About the only time it doesn't happen is with homebirth midwives or certain infamous non-interventive providers. And some providers are more subtle.
Folks, it has nothing to do with you or your baby. If you think your doctor or midwife just wants to go home and go to bed, you're probably right. If you think he/she just wants to get it over with by the weekend, you're probably right. If you think he/she is being pressured by hospital policy, you're probably right. If you think that there must be some kind of arbitrary time limit for your labor in general or for pushing your baby out, you are most certainly right (most hospitals want the baby out within 24 hours total, with a maximum limit of 2-3 hours of pushing/birthing beyond the 10cm point).
Don't let anyone talk to you like that. Ask for clear evidence (the heart rate is ok, but those monitors are extremely unreliable). Take a lesson from Jules' mama--stand up for yourself and your baby. If you don't, who else will?? Your doctor/midwife will probably forget about it by the time they are getting their full night sleep that night or vacationing with their family. But you won't forget.
Better yet, hire someone to attend your birth who will show you the utmost respect.
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