Stages of Labor
Before The Active Labor
These are the beginning stages of labor so symptoms could appear one hour before active labor or a month before you give birth. Each birth unfolds differently.
● You will notice that something is different. Sensations you may experience are: excitement, diarrhea, losing mucus with discharge or blood, Braxtopn Hicks / contractions, baby dropping down, colostrum leaking from your breast.
● Always listen to your body and remember to:
During the day: Keep practicing breathing and relaxing. Try to change positions regularly. Squatting is highly recommended, barefoot walking on safe grass/sand or just simply enjoying nature.
During night: Sleep (preserve your energy).
Hydrate and eat a large and healthy meal, something that will give you energy for a long time as your body will need lots of energy.
Active Labor
● You can’t ignore your contractions anymore. The contractions will get more powerful and you will be forced to stop and go inward.
● 4-1-1 Rule: Contractions every 4 minutes, each contraction lasts 1 minute, this
pattern has persisted for 1 hour.
● Call me to come over.
transitional phase
I would like to let you know that there might be a transitional phase. It is very close to giving birth where you may start doubting your body’s ability to go through with a natural birth. During this phase, your body produces a huge amount of hormones so you might feel overwhelmed. It happened to me where during this stage I thought of giving up and asked a doula for the epidural. With the gentle reassurance of my doula, I went through that! And this time, I’ll be there to guide you through this process as well.
Remember to call me anytime you need support during this process!
Bless you and your baby,
Ula