Stages of Labour & Delivery

1. Stages of Labour & Delivery Mrs. Richardson-Carmichael

2. It’s Time!!!!

3. Its Getting Close…..Nerves are on High Alert….But Still Smiling! C-Section (Haley) Breech Natural (Hannah) Head down Surprise Broken Water (15%) with Meconium in fluid…LOTS of Pain. Start August 12, 2007 at 6am. Planned. NO Pain…for now. Starts at 1:30pm on December 2, 2013

4. How do you know your are in labour? • In early labour, also called the latent phase you may feel the following: • Persistent lower back or abdominal pain, often accompanied by a crampy premenstrual feeling. • A bloody show (a brownish or blood-tinged mucus discharge). • Painful contractions that occur at regular and increasingly shorter intervals and become longer and stronger in intensity • Broken waters, but you're in labour only if it's accompanied by contractions that are dilating your cervix http://www.babycenter.ca/signs-for-how-I-will-know-I-am-in-labour#ixzz2zpaokZX7

5. Stage 1 – Include the following…. • Early Labour • Active Labour • Transition

6. Early Labour • During early labour, your cervix starts to open and widen. It'll go from being closed to about 3cm or 4cm dilated. • Many women, however, notice that they're getting increasingly painful contractions and that they're coming regularly. These are different to Braxton Hicks contractions, which are irregular and painless. • You'll have your own rhythm and pace of labour. As a rough guide, early contractions are more than five minutes apart and short, perhaps only 30 or 40 seconds long (McCormick 2009). You'll be able to talk through them and carry on with your normal routine, if you want to. • For some women, early labour starts and stops. For others, it progresses smoothly into active labour.http://www.babycenter.ca/a177/the-stages-of-childbirth#ixzz2zpYr6kLY

7. Active Labour • As labour progresses your contractions usually become longer and more frequent. Your cervix opens from 3-4cm to 10cm. • Contractions are more powerful now. • A contraction usually starts gradually, building up to a peak of intensity before fading away. • Contractions may come as often as every three to four minutes and last 60 to 90 seconds. They'll feel very intense. Between contractions, you'll be able to talk, move around, have a drink or something to eat, and prepare yourself for the next one. • Contractions in the active phase open your cervix more rapidly, but it may still be many hours before your cervix is fully dilated. http://www.babycenter.ca/a177/the-stages-of-childbirth#ixzz2zpYyt9IV

11. Transition • The transitional phase happens when you move from the first stage of labour to the second, pushing stage. It often starts when your cervix is about 8cm dilated. It ends when your cervix is fully dilated, or when you get the urge to push. It's common for your waters to break just before or during transition. Women feel this stage in different ways. • It can be intense and overwhelming. • You may feel zoned in to your labour and only able to make abrupt demands. • You may shout and feel impatient with everyone. • You might feel shaky, shivery and sick. • Or you may feel none of these things! • Transition means that you're nearly there. With support you can get through this stage. Thankfully, there's often a lull at the end of transition when the contractions pause and you and your baby can rest (McCormick 2009). http://www.babycenter.ca/a177/the-stages-of-childbirth#ixzz2zpZ3Oc54

12. Stage 2 • This is the stage of labour when you push your baby down your vagina (the birth canal). • You'll feel the pressure of your baby's head between your legs. With each contraction you may get two or three strong urges to push. • With every push, your baby will move through your pelvis a little, but at the end of the contraction, he'll probably slip back again! • When your baby's head is far down in your pelvis, you'll probably feel a hot, stinging sensation. This will happen as the opening of your vagina starts to stretch around your baby's head. • Your midwife or Obstetrician will tell you when she can see your baby's head, and he is no longer slipping back between contractions. • Your midwife may ask you to stop pushing and take short, panting breaths for the next two or three contractions. • This helps make sure that your baby is born gently and slowly, and helps you avoid tearing or needing an episiotomy (Downe 2009). • If you've had a baby before, the second stage may only take five or 10 minutes. If this is your first baby, it may take several hours.http://www.babycenter.ca/a177/the-stages-of-childbirth#ixzz2zpZKKTTw

13. Delivering the Placenta • Once your baby is born, the third stage begins. Contractions, weaker this time, will start up again. • These will make the placenta gradually peel away from the wall of your uterus. You may get the urge to push again. The placenta, with the membranes of the empty bag of waters attached, will drop to the bottom of your uterus and out through your vagina • Many hospitals routinely give you an injection which makes the placenta come out. This is called a managed third stage. This speeds up the third stage and you won't have to do any pushing. • Your midwife or doctor will examine the placenta and membranes to make sure that nothing has been left behind. • She will also feel your tummy to check that your uterus is contracting hard to stop the bleeding from the place where the placenta was attached. http://www.babycenter.ca/a177/the-stages-of-childbirth#ixzz2zpZdmBog

14. Birth Video • http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=BgZ5z6RB06c

15. Baby Hannah – 7lbs 11oz 21” Monday August 13, 2007 Haley – 6lbs 14oz 20” Monday December 2, 2013 Born naturally with cord around neck twice at 3:51am after 22hrs of Labour 4hrs of pushing. Born via C-section at 2:32pm after 30min in Delivery

16. Now What?!