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Although mother nature prepared each of us to give birth to a child, the first birth is always a new and unknown experience. In order not to be surprised and not to panic, learn as much as possible about its course and stages of labor.

Having a baby is a huge effort - not only for a woman, but also for a newborn baby. Before your baby can get out into the world, you will fight the contractions and he, under great pressure, will squeeze through the narrow birth canal. Replacing a warm and safe uterus with a cool and not yet very friendly environment must be a powerful shock forbaby . Therefore, it is worth getting acquainted with the course ofchildbirthand check what will happen to the baby and your body in its particular periods. If you are aware of these changes, it will be easier for you to help yourself and your baby in the birth. Due to the tasks that your body is to fulfill in each stage of labor, specialists have divided it into fourstages of labor .

First stage of labor

The progress of labor is determined, among other things, by the painful contractions of the uterus, which prepare the woman's birth canal for childbirth. Mothers talk about them when they remember their birth.

  • What's going on with you? The first contractions, similar to menstrual pain, are a signal that labor is beginning. At first, you may feel them quite rarely and weakly, e.g. every 10 minutes, only after some time contractions will appear regularly - every 5 minutes, then even more often, every 3 or 2 minutes. If you are having a baby for the first time, you should be in the hospital when your contractions repeat every 5 minutes. Sometimes labor begins with the drainage of the amniotic fluid (but it also happens that the fetal bladder does not burst until the end of the first stage of labor); if it is accompanied by regular contractions - it's time to go to the hospital. When there are no contractions and the amniotic fluid is clear or pink - there is no reason to hurry, but you should come to the hospital. The task of contractions is to shorten and open the cervix up to 10 cm wide (because this is usually the diameter of a baby's head). The midwife will periodically check you during the first stage of labor to assess the degree of cervical dilation. Full dilatation will open the baby's way to the world and end the first stage of labor. Before this happens, however, it may even take several hours, especiallyif you are giving birth to your first child. The first stage of labor is usually shorter in the so-called multiparous women, i.e. women who give birth again.
  • What's going on with the baby? Usually, at the end of pregnancy, the baby prepares for birth and turns its head down, and in the last weeks before delivery, the baby's head is placed sideways into the pelvis. This may be accompanied by a lowering belly feeling, although this is not always the case. The contractions of the uterus cause the baby to press against the cervix, causing it to open and move the baby down the birth canal. In order to get through the narrow canal, its head must conform to the shape of the pelvis. The bones of a baby's skull are as soft as cartilage and are not yet fused together, so the head may shrink and thus adapt to a tight transition in the pelvis.
  • What can you do? Breathe with the diaphragm as you were taught in birthing school. Take long, deep breaths so that your stomach is rising, not your chest. Thanks to this, you will oxygenate the child. Your contractions are usually painful; you can help yourself by taking advantage of a warm bath - water relaxes tense muscles and relaxes you. Adjust the length of the bath to the recommendations of the midwife, because staying in the bath for too long may slow down the contraction. Your activity has a very positive effect on the progress of labor - walk, jump on a ball or use a beanbag. The vertical position also helps the baby slide down the birth canal and speeds up the opening of the cervix.

How to survive the first stage of labor?

Second stage of labor

When the cervix is ​​fully dilated, the next stage of labor begins. It usually lasts several dozen minutes, but sometimes even two hours.

  • What's going on with you? When the fully open cervix is ​​no longer an obstacle, the baby's head, pushed by uterine contractions, can lower through the vagina and pelvic bones. If the baby's head is at the bottom of the birth canal, contractions change in nature and become partial contractions. When you start pushing, you help the little one to slide too. At one point, the head begins to press against the perineal tissues, gradually stretching them. If the perineum is not flexible enough, your midwife may incise it. With such a large stretching, these tissues are reddened and usually the procedure is not painful. The baby's head should emerge slowly. First, its tip appears, during contraction you can see it coming out of the vagina, but in the interval between contractions it disappears and you may feel that the baby is pulling back and the pressure has not worked. Be patient - this is a physiological part of the emergence processhead out. When the head is born, the most difficult things are behind you, the shoulders and the rest of the baby's body will be born with the next contraction. The baby is in the world!
  • What's going on with the baby? Since the birth canal is not regularly round and neither is the baby, a baby needs to make several turns to be born. First, entering the pelvis sideways, he has to bend his head to his chest to fit there at all, and as he moves downward, he turns his face towards the sacrum. In this position, the head comes out and has to turn towards one of mum's legs once again to allow the shoulders (which are still inside) to follow the shape of the pelvis and come out.
  • What can you do? Also at this stage of labor, the upright position is beneficial, because then the force of gravity helps you to give birth. Also, when you are not lying on your back, the pelvis has more capacity, giving your baby more space to squeeze through the birth canal. During contractions you will have a strong feeling of pressure and it is enough to cooperate with this feeling. Your body knows what to do. Due to the enormous effort, you may feel the need to make various sounds and even scream - sometimes it helps a lot. Above all, do what your body and instincts tell you. And if they fail, listen to the midwife's suggestion.

Third stage of labor

Although the midwife has already laid your baby on your belly, the labor is not over yet. Now you need to give birth to the placenta that kept your baby alive by providing him with oxygen and food.

  • What's going on with you? The third stage of labor lasts from a few to several minutes and is not difficult for the mother. Sometimes a woman feels a slight cramp when the placenta detaches, but it is not painful. The placenta should be born completely. If the doctor notices that any part of it is left in the uterus, he will clean it under anesthesia. This procedure is called curettage of the uterus.
  • What's going on with the baby? As soon as the baby's umbilical cord stops pulsating, the midwife (or the baby's dad who is present at birth) cuts it. From now on, the baby will breathe on its own. It is a difficult moment, however, because the world is strange and even shocking for a child. Sometimes it's too bright, sometimes it's too cold, too loud, or too much empty space. The tightness of the cuddly womb is gone, there is no more warm amniotic fluid, only air. It is very difficult for a child if there is no well-known mother's body nearby, which is an oasis of safety.
  • What can you do? Welcome your baby by hugging him tenderly in your arms. His shock will be lesswhen he feels the warmth of your body and hears the familiar beating of your heart.

Fourth stage of labor

You will remain in the delivery room for two hours under the care of a midwife. During this time, the doctor or midwife will sew the perineum (if it has been incised) and check that the uterus contracts properly and that the vaginal bleeding is normal. The fact that the baby is with its mother, and especially the attempt to latch the baby to the breast, has a very positive effect on the contraction of the uterus and the reduction of excessive bleeding. Most of all, however, it is the moment when a bond is formed between you and your baby, so it should be with you all the time. Unfortunately, not all Polish hospitals respect it. But in some cases, the baby is with the mother even while the perineum is sewn together, and the baby is not taken to the bath immediately after giving birth. Remember that you have the right to demand this if your baby was born in good shape - it is your baby, it belongs to you, not to the staff.

Important

Each contraction gradually increases, reaches a peak and then decreases. This cycle occurs regularly every few minutes depending on the advancement of labor, e.g. with a 5-cm dilation, uterine contractions last 30-40 seconds and occur every 3-4 minutes. They will appear every 2-3 minutes at the end of your labor. The contractions are very strong and occur every 1-2 minutes. They last from 60 to 90 seconds.

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Childbirth