Vaginal delivery
Signs of labour
Three common signs that indicate labour:
• Mucus plug: Show of blood stained mucus
• Water breaks: Membranes surrounding the baby rupture
• The start of regular contractions
Other danger signs, come to hospital immediately
• Any vaginal bleeding
• When the baby is not moving as regular as you are used to
Stages of labour:
Latent stage:
• Cervix has begun to dilate from 0-3cm
• This is the longest stage and can take 8-12 hours
• Contractions last about 30 seconds and can be every 5-20 minutes
Active phase:
• Cervix is dilating at approximately 1cm per hour
• 3-8 cm dilatation
• Contractions last 50 seconds and comes every 3-4 minutes
Transition:
• 8-10 cm dilatation
• Contractions 40-60 seconds and every 2 minutes
• Can start to experience an urge to push because the baby is moving down into the birth canal
Pushing to birth:
• Contractions 60 seconds and every 2 minutes
• Can last up to 2 hours
Baby’s skull:
• Leaving gaps which forms sutures and fontanelles
• Fontanelles are soft spots on top of the baby’s head where bones haven’t fused yet
• Moulding: Change in the shape of the foetal head during passage through the birth canal. This is a protective mechanism and prevents the brain from being compressed by overlapping of the skull bones