Preparing for birth can feel overwhelming! There is a lot of information out there, and it’s tough to become an expert in only 9 months. In this blog, we are going to break down the basics of childbirth education–what you NEED to know as you navigate your labor to help you figure out:
- Are you in labor?
- When should you head to your birth location?
- What can you do to support your labor progress?
- And what to expect at each point of your birth!
Table of Contents
If you want to dive deeper with us, join our online childbirth education course! In our online childbirth education course, you will learn the anatomy and physiology of pregnancy and birth (what is actually happening in your body), what to do to prepare for birth (exercises, pelvic floor, and more), your options during birth, labor positions/comfort measures, ways for your partner to support you, pushing, and so much more!
This course is completely online, self-paced, and you maintain lifetime access to the course to use for this pregnancy and future ones! Join the course here!
Intro to Childbirth
What do you NEED to know as you prepare for your birth? First, you need to understand WHAT is a contraction and what a contraction even does for your birth.
Then, you need to understand what hormones contribute towards labor progress, and how you can enhance those labor hormones for a smoother birth process.
After that, understanding the phases of labor and what to expect at each phase will be important–from the first contraction to pushing to the placenta.
Once you understand all of that, it will be much easier to understand all the extra stuff that is beyond this blog post, such as how to address labor stalls, what exercises to do during pregnancy to prep for birth, and so much more!
What is a Contraction??
A uterine contraction is similar to other muscle contractions in your body, where the muscle shortens and tightens. This tightening helps push your baby down into your pelvis and causes changes in your cervix, helping it to open (dilate) and thin out (efface). Uterine contractions are crucial for labor progression, ultimately assisting in pushing your baby and placenta out.
How to Identify Labor Contractions
Labor contractions can be identified by the wave-like sensation they produce. The intensity builds, peaks, and then releases, much like a charlie horse. In contrast, Braxton Hicks contractions (practice contractions) have a sudden tightening and release without the wave-like build and release of intensity.
Cervical Changes: Effacement and Dilation
- Effacement: The thinning of the cervix, measured from 0% (thick) to 100% (thin). Effacement usually occurs before dilation and helps the cervix to open more easily.
- Dilation: The opening of the cervix, measured from 0 cm (closed) to 10 cm (complete). The more effaced the cervix, the easier it is to dilate.
With effacement, we’re going to start at 0%, which is usually around 3 to 4 centimeters, which is what our cervix should be throughout most of our pregnancy.
Towards the end of your pregnancy, your cervix may start to get a little bit thinner, and then ultimately during labor, it’s going to get super, super thin, similar to the thickness of a piece of paper, which will be like a hundred percent effaced. 0% means the cervix is thick, and 100% means it’s super, super thin. The thinner your cervix is, the more easily it is to manipulate to dilate and open.
For a lot of us, we’re going to efface before we begin to dilate. You might be like 70 to 80 percent effaced, but maybe only one or two centimeters. But once we start to get higher in the effacement, you may find that dilation begins to happen a lot faster.
Labor Hormones: Helping Labor Progress from Contraction to Baby!
Labor involves two main hormones:
- Oxytocin: Known as the love hormone, it is released when you feel safe, supported, and happy. Oxytocin causes uterine contractions and also releases endorphins, providing natural pain relief.
- Prostaglandins: Found in various tissues, prostaglandins help thin and soften the cervix, facilitating effacement.
These hormones work together in a positive feedback loop, increasing each other’s levels until labor progresses and your baby is born. You can enhance the release of these hormones by setting the vibe for your labor room and laboring in upright positions.
Oxytocin is our love hormone–you can enhance the release of oxytocin by setting your environment. Dim the lights, play soft music, and having loving touch from your supportive partner. It is also important to feel safe and supported in your birth environment–so choosing a birth team to support you that you truly trust is vital!
Prostaglandin release can be enhanced from upright labor positions! These positions tend to use gravity to put more pressure on the cervix–which can increase the release of this hormone. This is why exercising throughout pregnancy can be beneficial–not that it makes you better at labor, but you tend to have more stamina to maintain an upright position for longer!
If you want daily workouts to support your pregnancy and birth prep, check out our online prenatal fitness programs!
If you want more daily workouts to support a strong pregnancy as you prepare for birth, join our online prenatal fitness programs!
MamasteFit is unique in that we are one of the ONLY prenatal/postnatal training facilities in the United States. We develop our workout programs from our experience of working with in-person pre/postnatal fitness clients and work closely with physical therapists to refine our programming. In addition, we are birth workers, so we combine our experience as perinatal fitness trainers and birth professionals to ensure that our programs actually support your birth preparation and recovery!
Our prenatal fitness programs are offered in several formats:
- 40-Week Prenatal Strength Program in the Teambuildr App:
- This program is a self-paced workout with shorter demo videos. This is ideal if you like to workout in a gym setting and prefer a traditional workout delivery format.
- This program syncs to your current week of pregnancy, so you can start anytime, with one-time payment or month-to-month payment options.
- This program has a full and mini version, depending on how much time you have to dedicate to workouts!
- Prenatal On-Demand Fitness Program:
- If you prefer to follow a video as you workout at the same time, this workout program will be the best option!
- This program syncs to your current trimester, so you can grab the trimesters you need!
- Birth Prep Workout Program:
- If you have a current workout routine, and you want to add on workouts to prep for birth–check out this program!
- Prenatal Yoga Classes:
- If you want prenatal yoga, join our prenatal yoga program! This also syncs to your current trimester.
Stages of Labor: Contractions, Pushing, and the Placenta!
Labor is divided into three stages:
- First Stage (Labor): This stage involves cervical dilation and includes early labor, active labor, and the transition phase.
- Early Labor: Contractions are more than 10 minutes apart, lasting 30 seconds to a minute. You can usually walk and talk through them. As you near the end of this phase, your contractions may be closer to 4 minutes apart and you may need some more support through them!
- How can you tell you’re still in early labor? If in between contractions you can focus and engage with your environment, such as continuing conversations or text on your phone, you are likely still in early labor.
- Active Labor: Contractions become more frequent, and intense, and you may need more support.
- Your contractions are usually 2-3 minutes apart, lasting for a full minute and you need a lot of support during contractions.
- You may be vocalizing more with your contractions at this point, as well.
- In between contractions, you are you in your own world and no longer want to engage with your environmment.
- Transition: The final phase before pushing, where contractions are very intense, and you may feel pressure in your pelvis.
- Early Labor: Contractions are more than 10 minutes apart, lasting 30 seconds to a minute. You can usually walk and talk through them. As you near the end of this phase, your contractions may be closer to 4 minutes apart and you may need some more support through them!
- Second Stage (Pushing): This stage starts from the beginning of pushing until your baby is born.
- Third Stage (Placenta Delivery): After your baby is born, the placenta also needs to be delivered.
The First Stage of Labor: Dilation
The first stage of labor is dilation. Within this stage, we have some different phases: we have early labor, early active labor, active labor, and then transition before we move into the second stage of labor which is pushing.
Early Labor
Early labor and early active labor are typically going to be where most of us start labor. Now, some of us will sleep through early labor, so you may wake up in active labor, or you may progress very quickly through early labor. But generally, most of us will spend most of our time in early labor.
In early labor, contractions are typically more than 10 minutes apart. They’re probably less than a minute long, anywhere from like 30 seconds to a minute long. You can walk and talk and just exist normally through them. You are unaffected by the fact that you are having contractions, other than you might be excited that you’re finally having these uterine contractions. Contractions are building in intensity, they’re peaking and they’re releasing and letting go, but you don’t need much support during them. You’re just kind of continuing about your day.
During early labor, if you’re tired, go to sleep. If you’re not tired because you had a full night of sleep and you woke up in early labor, eat some food, go move around. When you’re fatigued, lie down to take a nap. But kind of just move through it based on how you feel.
Early Active Labor
After early labor, we begin to enter this transitional point where we’re kind of in between early and active labor. This phase can be really confusing because now you’re starting to have more difficulty with contractions and you need more support. You can’t quite walk and talk through them anymore.
But in between contractions, you return to the space. For example, you’re chatting with someone and they’re telling a really funny joke and you’re like, “Ha, ha, I’m laughing at your joke!” And then you say, “Hang on, I have a contraction coming.” And then you focus on your contraction, your partner’s like squeezing your hips. And then the contractions are over and you’re like, “Ha, ha, your joke was so funny!” You’re mentally returning to the space and you’re mentally present in between contractions.
That’s a key thing to notice that you’re still in that early labor phase and contractions are probably anywhere from like four to ten minutes in spacing.
Active Labor
In active labor, you need more support during those contractions and now you’re no longer present in that space. You’re in your own world. You are moving through the contractions with your support, and then you don’t want to talk to anyone in between–you may even try to fall asleep in between contractions!
A key thing for me to know that someone has transitioned into active labor is that they’re no longer texting or calling me anymore. It’s their partner that is now the primary communicator. During early labor, it’s usually my client who is texting and updating me on what’s happening. Once they begin that transition into active labor being on your phone is too mentally fatiguing.
Contractions are probably two to three minutes apart at this point. They last for a full minute. They’re a little bit more intense. And this would also be a good time to start thinking about heading to your birth location. if you are planning to give birth somewhere other than at your house.
Transition
During transition, your body is going to be releasing a ton of stress hormones, and this is a good thing because it’s amping you up to push a baby out of your body. But it’s also, those stress hormones that are passing to your baby to amp them up, to live on the outside of the world. They have to learn to breathe on their own and make a lot of changes within their circulation system. They have to figure out how to eat and regulate their temperature. There are a lot of things that have to change in a short period for them that they need to be amped up and ready to do.
This release of stress hormones could trigger a fight-or-flight response for you, which can be overwhelming and cause a lot of anxiety and confusion. However, this can stimulate your sympathetic nervous system to amp you up for pushing!
Tips for Managing Labor
- Stay Hydrated and Nourished: Keep your energy levels up with light snacks and plenty of fluids.
- Rest When Possible: If you’re in early labor and tired, try to rest or sleep.
- Movement and Upright Positions: Gravity helps increase pressure on the cervix, aiding in labor progression. Prenatal fitness can help you maintain stamina for upright positions during labor.
- Create a Comfortable Environment: Dim lights and soft music can help you relax and promote the release of melatonin, which enhances oxytocin sensitivity.
Second Stage of Labor: Pushing
Instructors
GINA & ROXANNE
This course focuses on pushing during birth! Learn pushing strategies, positions, and breathing techniques to meet your baby faster.
- 1h+ of Video
- Lifetime Access
- On Mobile
The second stage of labor is the pushing phase. You may either start to spontaneously push (more common if you are unmedicated) or be coached to begin to start pushing (more common with an epidural).
Pushing can be as short as a few pushes or last up to 3-4 hours. Usually, if you are unmedicated you will push for a shorter time since you can feel when you are pushing effectively. It may take longer to push with an epidural depending on the strength of your epidural, as you will need to relearn how to connect your mind to body to properly push.
How to Push
When pushing, you will generally only push when you have a contraction. You’ll begin to feel the contraction build….
- Inhale to push the diaphragm down to feel an increase in pressure if your perineum. The inhales help to start your push!
- Exhale or hold your breath to continue to push downward.
- Repeat 3-4 times per contraction, or as feels right for you if spontaneously pushing.
3rd Stage of Labor: Placenta Birth
The final stage of labor is the placenta’s birth. The placenta can take up to 30 minutes to be born, but on average, for most people, it’ll be less than five minutes before the placenta comes out.
Some people might not even realize that the placenta comes out because it just falls out and you’re too enthralled with your baby to even notice. Some people do have to bear down a little bit for their placenta to come out.
If after 30 minutes, the placenta still has not been born, especially in a hospital, they usually will want to go in and manually extract the placenta if they can’t get it to come out with just a little bit of gentle traction on the cord.
Why does this matter? This is because where the placenta is located in your body on that uterus, it’s embedded into the uterine wall. And it starts to kind of detach a little bit, and the wound that is behind the placenta where all of the blood vessels were connected to that placenta is just slowly bleeding. If that placenta is still in there, that uterus can’t fully clamp down to stop the blood flow from coming through that wound that’s on the uterus where the placenta was embedded. This can just increase the amount of blood loss that you have.
There are different options for managing your placenta birth:
- Active management involves the use of Pitocin and gentle cord traction, which is more common in a hospital setting.
- Expectant management is when you wait for the placenta to detach on its own, but still monitor for signs that more action needs to be taken.
Speaking with your provider about your preferences for managing your placenta’s birth can be important during your prenatal appointments.
Conclusion
We hope this blog provides valuable insights into childbirth, helping you feel more prepared and confident. Remember, every birth journey is unique, and understanding the process can empower you to make informed decisions. If you have any questions or need further support, check out our online resources or reach out to our community.
Prenatal Support Courses
Learn the science of pregnancy and birth to take the mystery of labor away! Understand why you are feeling what you feel, and learn strategies to confidently move through pregnancy and birth!
- 9h+ of Video
- Support Group
- Close Captioning
- 5 Workouts/Week
- Gym Workouts
- Self-Paced
Instructor
GINA
Workout on-demand with our prenatal fitness workout videos! Each workout is 30-40 minutes to follow along as you exercise at the same time!
- Birth Prep
- All Trimesters
- Mobility Work
Instructor
GINA
Find comfort and relief from pelvic girdle pain throughout your pregnancy and postpartum period! This program incorporates myofascial sling focused exercises to stabilize across the pelvic girdle joints.
- 3 Weeks
- On Demand Workout Videos to Follow