If the contractions start to make changes in your cervix, this means that your labor has started. The birth of a woman with her first
pregnancy takes approximately 12 – 18 hours. The duration of labor for a woman who has given birth before is 8 - 10 hours. Every woman's birth is different. Your birth will be very different from that of your sister or
friend. Even birth in each pregnancy is different from others. Despite all these differences, birth has a process that is the same for everyone. The more
you know about birth, the more prepared you will be for birth.
I would like to talk about the meanings of some terms that your midwife or doctor will use during birth.
Elevation (effacement): The opening of the cervix. shortening and thinning. Normally, the cervix is in the form of a tube located between the vagina and the uterus. It is approximately 3.5 – 4 cm long before birth. As labor
progresses, the cervix becomes shorter and thinner, and this thinning continues until it becomes equal to the uterus. Deletion
is evaluated as a percentage. 0 percent means no effacement, 100 percent means complete effacement.
Thanks to effacement, your cervix is ready to open and the baby is allowed to come out of this opening.
Dilation: It refers to the amount the cervix opens. 0 cm indicates that there is no dilatation at all, and 10 cm indicates that the dilation is complete.
Maturation of the cervix: It refers to the softening, thinning and
dilation of the cervix in preparation for birth.
Arrival: It is the part of the baby that is at the exit, that is, in the cervix. In a normal birth, the baby stands head and shoulders.
Level: is a term used to indicate the location of the leading part of the baby in the vagina. Information about the baby's descent is obtained by saying numbers between -5, 0, +5
. +5 is the level where the baby's head is seen from the outside and crowning occurs.
Stages of birth
Normal birth is divided into three main stages. The first stage is called the part from the beginning of labor to the feeling of pushing the baby. In the second stage, the cervix opens fully and the baby comes out. This period is also called the
straining phase. The period after the baby is born until the baby's partner comes out, called the placenta. r /> period is the third phase.
The first phase of birth is divided into two: waiting and active phase. During the waiting period, mild contractions are felt every 5 – 15 minutes and last 60 – 90 seconds. Gradually, contractions become more regular.
As the early period progresses, contractions occur every five minutes, and during these contractions, you may start to have pain in your lower back
and pain in your lower abdomen with each contraction. During contraction
your abdomen becomes hard and tight. It feels hard, just like touching a wall. Between contractions, your belly
softens. These contractions do a very important job for birth. Thanks to these contractions, your cervix opens and softens. This period, which is the early phase of labor, is the longest period of labor. This period
may vary from woman to woman. Although this period may be a few hours for some women, it may be much longer for others.
For expectant mothers giving birth for the first time, this period may vary between 6 and 12 hours. It may even take up to 20 hours for some
women. The pain of early labor also varies from person to person. Some women
may not feel anything during this period even though they have contractions. For some women, you may feel the pain very severely
but you can still cope with the pain.
My advice to you is to spend most of the early labor phase at home. Expect your contractions to be more frequent
and come at regular intervals. During this period, walk, take a hot shower, rest, eat or drink something, walk again and even stretch your pelvic muscles by doing pilates movements. Turn on calm music
and try to spend time in a slightly dark environment. This way, your hormones will work better.
Breathe deeply during contractions, focus on your breathing. You can also count backwards from 15 during contractions. At the end of the contraction, take a big breath and rest before the next contraction
starts.
Even if your water breaks during this period, it will not cause any harm to your baby. It is also normal to have enough bleeding to fill a pad during these contractions. Therefore, if your water breaks is clear or if your bleeding is mucusy and only the size of a pad, do not have regular contractions at home. You can wait for the next day.
If your water breaks is green or if you are bleeding heavily, I strongly recommend you to go to the hospital. He created it painlessly. Pain is actually
helping you. How Does? By choosing the least painful posture, you help the baby exit. Walking
or being active will shorten your labor by almost 1.5 hours.
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