For most mums, being pregnant a second or subsequent time can be easier than the first. Having experienced it before, you'll be more equipped to know how to look after yourself. In fact, that's the reason some mums are offered fewer midwife appointments than during their first pregnancy.
You have more aches and pains
The body very quickly begins to relax its joints, leading to more body aches with the second baby than the first.
3 Reasons a Second Pregnancy Can Be Harder
This hormone circulates through your bloodstream and loosens both ligaments and joints in anticipation of going into labor. You may find yourself more tired. Balancing pregnancy and the demands of motherhood can be exhausting.
Will my second birth be less painful? Although the sensations of the contractions are likely to be the same, most women say that they are able to cope with them more easily. Knowing what to expect and preparing beforehand play a role in this. As labour is often shorter, you won't feel so tired either (NICE, 2014).
Second pregnancies can feel different from the first. You may find you have different symptoms after becoming pregnant with a second child. Women have told us that they have noticed the following differences: The bump gets bigger sooner, probably because your stomach muscles have already been stretched out once before.
Statistics suggest that if you had relatively mild sickness in your previous pregnancy, you're less likely to experience it this time. We also know that if you had severe sickness in your first pregnancy, you're more likely to experience it again.
Yet the newest pregnancy always seems to be harder than the one before it. While every pregnancy is different, it is not uncommon to find your second or subsequent pregnancy more challenging.
Now for the good news: the majority of second and subsequent labours are much quicker than the first! This only applies if you have had a previous vaginal birth, as it's this process that makes subsequent labours generally quicker and easier.
There's some good news when it comes to how long you might have to spend in the delivery room: Although every pregnancy is different, the second phase of labor for a first-time mom can last two to three-and-a-half hours or longer, while for second-timers it may take half that much time.
Two kids require more time, more attention, and more energy than one, which means you have less of all of those to spend on each other. Date nights, romantic evenings, and even casual conversations are harder to come by. You also have more things to disagree on.
The second stage of labor for a second baby
The second stage of labor (when you start pushing and deliver the baby) usually takes about one to three hours for first-time moms, but often less than an hour — and sometimes only a few minutes — for women who've had children before.
Our results show that birthweight of second-borns is significantly higher than that of first-borns. The effects of this difference are related with a longer gestational age, an increased number of visits during the pregnancy, and gender of infants.
And surprisingly, the women who had the most trouble with milk production the first time had the greatest jump in milk production with their second baby. Another plus, breastfeeding took less time for the second baby. On average mothers saved about an hour per day, something that most new moms would certainly welcome.
The answer is definitely yes. Normal delivery, whether it's the 1st, 2nd time or even the 3rd, 4th time, women still have to overcome labor pains - uterine contractions lasting many hours. The cervix still has to open from 0cm to 10cm to be able to give birth, all mothers have to make the same perineal incision.
Having two children reduces mortality risk. Three different studies looked at thousands of older adults and found the same thing: two kids was the sweet spot for health. The risk of an early death increases by 18% for parents of an only child.
Particular methyl groups removed by proteins during the first pregnancy stay off for subsequent pregnancies too, the researchers found. In this way, the mammary gland “remembers” the first pregnancy and starts preparing to make milk more quickly the second time around.
From pregnancy and labour right through to the effect on family life, having a second child can be a very different experience. Lots of mums worry that they won't bond as instantly as they did the first time, but often the reason parents feel they aren't bonding as quickly with a second child is simply down to time.
When Does Breast Milk Come in During Pregnancy? If you're pregnant, you may be making early breast milk and not even know it! Milk production generally begins around the midpoint of pregnancy, somewhere between weeks 16 and 22.
Lower Fetal Position in the Abdomen
Second pregnancies tend to "carry" lower, too. That's because your weakened abdominal muscles can't support a baby as well as they did before, so the fetus drops lower in your abdomen.
The good news is that for many, a second or subsequent labour may well be shorter, as your cervix and pelvis has already stretched so it will be more efficient at letting baby through. Also, lots of mums pregnant for the second time find that their baby's head doesn't engage until the last minute.
'” While most of the time the second childbirth is a much easier process, Bartos says, it's never guaranteed: There's always the possibility that baby is bigger or in the wrong position, a complication might arise, or things just don't go as expected.
As a result, parents find that their mental and physical health takes a big hit with two kids thanks to the effect of chronic stress. And that's especially true for women in cisgendered, straight relationships, where both partners tend to slot, unconsciously or otherwise, into traditional carer/earner roles.
According to the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and Western University in Canada, having a third baby won't make you any happier. While parents' happiness increases in the year before and after the first and second children, the birth of third children doesn't see the same increased happiness.
Once the first child is born, time pressure increases for both parents. Yet this effect is substantially larger for mothers than fathers. Second children double parents' time pressure, further widening the gap between mothers and fathers.