Physiologically, a threatening place of birth will slow the birth process. Robertson reminds us that in negative circumstances women seek safety. Oxytocin levels then fall, and the progress of labour is slowed. During this birth, however, time was the main focal point. The woman was ceaselessly directed towards the clock.
Much current research refutes second stage limitations.
I have since read the local hospital policy on second stage and found that time limits are, in fact, absent from labour ward protocols. Birth Whatever the implications of verbal communication, the words themselves deserve closer appraisal. Leap and others have analysed the language of birth. Others have declared that it is difficult to give support and praise when the value system pervades the language we use. By our language we unwittingly reveal our perceptions and politics.