Labour

Labour

• Stage One- Widening the Cervix
• At the beginning of the first stage contractions start and are every 20-30 minutes, they speed up until they are every two minutes.
• The waters break if they haven't already.
• The contractions widen (dilate) the cervix to 10cm.
• The time this takes varies but on average it lasts up to 15 hours for a first baby.
• The mother can move around and have a warm bath to help with the pain.
• Stage two- Pushing the Baby out
• The mother needs to start pushing with each contraction.
• Crowning is when the baby's head is at the opening of the vagina.
• Pushing the baby's head out is the hardest part, it needs to go slowly to prevent the perineum tearing.
• Once the head is out, the midwife eases the shoulders out one at a time.
• At the end of the second stage the baby is born.

Labour

• Stage three- cutting the cord and pushing out placenta
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