labour and child birth

labour and child birth

Some pregnant women may show nesting instinct which is an urge or desire to clean up her house and prepare for her house for her offspring. (This sometimes happens in the fifth month of pregnancy for some pregnant women or very close to actual labour for some other women )

One of the first signs  (especially in women who are pregnant for the first time ) that a pregnant woman might note  is that the head of  the baby /  the baby   has started to move downwards lower into the abdomen / pelvic region of the woman. This is usually called lightening / baby dropping  / baby engages / engagement / engaged position in the pelvis and this can happen anytime between two weeks to four weeks before labour actually starts. Once the baby drops / engaged in the pelvis , the cervix will start to efface / thinning of cervix / ripening of cervix / cervix effacement . Effacement refers to the thinness of the cervix and is measured in percentages.

Braxton Hicks contractions refer to the tightening of the muscles of the uterus tightening for around 30 to 60 seconds . This usually happens in the third trimester and sometimes as early as the second trimester. These are usually irregular and not painful, just uncomfortable in nature. But these may be experience in different ways by different women.


Another sign is that the cervix may begin to dilate ( become wider / more open) . The plug of mucus might be released from the cervix  (called the show or bloody show in pregnancy ) The mucus plug might be tinged with blood or old brown blood.
An important sign of actual labour is dilation of cervix and painful contractions increasing in frequency.

What might be somewhat embrassing for the pregnant women is the number of persons in the hospital who might insert their finger to check for the dilation of the cervix. Another embrassing thing is that most women might poop / shit themselves while pushing during delivery.

During the time of pregnancy the baby is in a sac filled with  a fluid called amniotic fluid. Sometimes the membrane of the  sac  will rupture and the fluid will flow out (This can happen before or during labour ) This is usually referred to as breaking of waters of the mother .

In most cases the contractions of labour will start first and then the water will break. Rupture of the amniotic sac and breaking of water of the mother long before labour starts is sometimes calle PROM ( premature rupture of membrane ). PPROM (  preterm premature rupture of membrane ) happens before the 37th week of pregnancy / gestation,

It is important for the pregnant woman to keep calm for her body to start secreting oxytoxin necessary for labour to start.

Sometimes  the midwife will try to induce labour by using a membrane sweep or ( stretch and sweep ). The midwife will insert a finger in the vagina and make sweeping motions near the cervix .

Some women request for epidural anesthesia during labour. Epidural anesthesia in labour  means blocking out pain from a particular region using drug injection near the spine around the nerves that carry nerve signals from the regions that might be painful in labour.

The doctor might also go in for C-section or cesarean section namely, using surgery for the delivery of the baby / babies if he thinks that normal vaginal delivery might be dangerous for the health of the mother / baby .



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