The rule of 10
I’ve been wondering about a few things recently.
- The purple line and its relation to dilation - meaning that lots of VEs were done on women as they progressed through labour to see whether there was a correlation.
- Why we wait until 10cm to be convinced that a woman is dilated.
- Where the 10cm rule came from.
"There is a rule of labor that forbids a woman to push with contractions until her cervix is completely dilated to 10 cm. Women are warned that to push before this doorway is completely open and out of the way will result in a swollen and/or torn cervix."
I’m curious to hear more on this topic and when I’m done with my current paper, I’ll look into it some more.
I’m developing a style of practice that is being hands off and observational, which is often in conflict with the hospital system that I am learning in. I get that I am a student and that I have to learn before I can be. I also get that I am the midwife I will be in the future; it’s in the heart and soul, not in the textbooks, but I need the knowledge and skills to catch up to that passion. But wow it’s hard going to be trained in The System when I don’t agree with so much of what I have to do.
Well - I am one of the mind that your body tells you when to push (duh). My first I started feeling overwhelmingly, knee-buckling, force inhaled, grunt exhaled pushing when in the tub and then waited 10 more minutes before I was ‘officially 10′ with my first.
After that, I told my doc to scrap with that… I started 2nd stage around 8.5/9cm with each one. That’s just how my body does it.
Comment by Nicole D — September 10, 2008 @ 9:05 am
What an interesting article! Even if the establishment were right, I’ve long wondered why the dilation is a flat 10cm. Logic would tell me that I, at 168cm and medium-to-large frame, would have a bigger cervix than a slight 155cm woman, therefore our maximum dilations would differ. I also imagine that the size of the babies would make a difference.
Comment by Adele — September 10, 2008 @ 4:22 pm