Stages of Labor

There are a number of stages of labor and a woman might experience some of or all of them. In early labor one might feel a constant urge to urinate. There may also be some break-through bleeding of the cervix.

Cramping pains low in the belly may develop. Their intensity may cause you to grasp your extended stomach at the bottom by your public bone. These all can be the first signs that labor has begun.

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In the first stages of labor, the symptoms can go to mild to severe. You can feel what you think is a flutter but that will be the start of labor pains. These pains can go by for hours and then they will start up again; being more intense and shorter in the span of time, getting closer and closer together.

When your labor pains are ten to five minutes apart and if your doctor has instructed you to, go to the hospital. You should have discussed this prior to this with your doctor.

You may or may not have experienced your water breaking during this time period, it will be warm almost like urination but will or could be just a small amount of fluid. The color can be almost clear to slightly pink with a small amount of blood mixed with this fluid. When you go to the hospital make sure they know if this has occurred or not.

Another of the stages of labor is signaled by the presence of persistent lower backache. This is caused from the pressure from the baby extending down the birth canal. You can relieve this pressure some, by putting a bed pillow behind your back while you lay on your side. A caring massage of the lower back is often helpful at this point.

The labor pains are different for each birth and person. What one woman experiences as stages of labor, you may or may not experience. Do not alarm yourself or worry for this is perfectly natural.

Many women find that the stages of labor with active contractions are often easier to get through by physical activity. That is one reason some women will pace back and forth in the labor room, or even walk up and down the hallway of the hospital.

You will be asked again if your water broke. In some instances, if your water has not broken, they may manually break the membrane holding the fluid that surrounds the baby. Breaking the water at this point in active labor is done to speed up the process.

As the labor pains increase and you will be examined frequently by the midwife or nurse to check the dilation of your cervix. The ideal dilation for giving birth is 10 centimeters.

You will begin to feel an urgency to push or bear down, however you need to resist that need. When the time is right and you have reach full dilation, then you will be told when to. Until that point, use breathing techniques, to lessen the pain you might be experiencing and to help you resist pushing.

Of course, once you’ve reached the point of being told to push you have passed out of the stages of labor and are now in the process of delivering a baby.

Learn more about the stages of pregnancy and stages of labor.

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