Natural Birth and Baby Care.com

What Happens During Labor and Birth

Your body is designed for labor and birth!

You can feel confident and proud that it has been created to nourish your child in your womb and to nourish your child at your breast.

If you can grow your baby of course you can birth your baby! Natural childbirth is wonderfully rewarding and empowering.

Learning how your body works during labor and birth helps you prepare for natural childbirth. You'll realize the intelligent design of your body and the intelligent behavior of your baby - ver reassuring.

Having this knowledge inside will give you skills, strength, and confidence during birth. You can study labor and birth at home with the Pink Kit to empower yourself with skills and knowledge.

The Anatomy of an Amazing Mama

Your baby is sheltered within your uterus - a muscular bag within your body - also called your womb.

Your baby's placenta is attached to the wall of the uterus and to your baby by his umbilical cord. The "bag of water" or amniotic sac surrounds your baby and cushions him within your uterus.

The opening of your uterus is called your cervix - during pregnancy it is tightly closed and sealed to keep your baby safe.

The cervix opens into the birth canal during labor and birth. Your baby will travel through your cervix and down the birth canal, or vagina, and pass through the vaginal opening and out into the world.

Getting Ready for Labor and Birth - and the First Stage

Your body primes itself for labor and birth. You may have been feeling Braxton-hicks contractions for several weeks. These are called "practice contractions" - but in reality they do help prepare your uterus and your body to give birth.

As you near the end of your pregnancy the Braxton-hicks contractions begin to affect your cervix. The cervix is an elongated tube (sometimes compared to a turtleneck sweater.) The cervix preparing for labor and birth changes in two ways and a turtleneck sweater can demonstrate both of them:

Effacement means that the cervix begins to flatten out. A turtleneck sweater being pulled gently down over your head will begin to flatten in a similar way. Dilation means that the cervix begins to open up - much like a turtleneck sweater will do as your head pushes through it.

In the late weeks of pregnancy your cervix may begin to dilate and efface - or it may not. Don't worry or get excited either way!

Dilation and effacement are notoriously inaccurate ways for telling how close you are to going into labor. You could be not effaced or dilated at all and have your baby that night. Or you could be 3cms dilated and 100% effaced - and labor and birth will still be three weeks away.

Effacement is measured as a percentage and dilation in cms. 10cms is fully dilated, and 100% is fully effaced.

Your uterus contracts to open and efface your cervix. The muscles that make up your uterus pull at your cervix causing it to melt away and leave you open for your baby to travel out into the world.

The work of opening your cervix is called the first stage of labor. Some women go through this stage quickly, and others more slowly. It depends on your body and on your baby. The best thing to do is to be patient and trust your body. Movement and changing positions can also help.

Some women enjoy visualizing their bodies opening as a flower opening, or the powerful pulling of their uterine muscles as waves rushing in and out from the ocean. Spend time learning about natural pain relief. Pick a symbol that has meaning for you. You may find it helps you relax during labor and birth.

Down and Out - the Second Stage

Once your cervix has opened up, it will be time for your baby to begin his journey down and out. It is important to understand how your pelvis works during natural childbirth.

Your pelvis isn't a rigid structure. The front of your pelvis is a joint. This joint is filled and cushioned with cartilage, which is a flexible substance. This joint allows your pelvis to have "give" and to open up more for your baby to pass through.

Amazingly, different positions open your pelvis up more. As your baby moves through your birth canal the position of your pelvis can help or hinder him.

A squat can open your pelvis up much more than lying down on your back. Lying down on your back is probably the worst position you can labor and birth in. Choose a position that feels comfortable for you. The position you are most open in is unique to your body.

Would you like to learn how to open your own body? Learn the skills you need to be in control and confident during labor? The Pink Kit will teach you to know your own body and give you what you need to be in control. I recommend it highly.

When your dilation is complete and your baby is ready to move down the birth canal it widens for him. It becomes engorged with blood - pushing your bladder forward and your rectum back. This leaves it open for your baby to travel through.

This same process occurs when a woman is sexually excited. Similar processes and hormones mean that birthing can be a wonderful process - some women even describe it as ecstatic. To read more about ecstatic birthing, I recommend Ina May's Guide to Childbirth.

Amazing

Your uterine muscles will begin to push in a downwards fashion, moving your baby down through your birth canal. You may feel a strong urge to push and you can bear down along with your body.

This may feel wonderful to you - it does for many women. For some women it feels powerful, almost like they are rushing along in a river. It is an awesome, awesome experience. Natural childbirth allows you to feel this process completely and it will leave you in awe and empowered.

Your baby begins "crowning" as his head pushes up against the vaginal opening and begins to be born. The skin and muscles around your vaginal opening stretch to accommodate your baby. Your perineum, the skin between the vaginal and rectal openings, will stretch the most.

Your doctor or midwife should support your perineum as your baby is born. Hot compresses help the skin to soften and stretch. Oil can also be massaged into the skin to help.

You may want to do some light massage with oil during pregnancy. Warm oil massage can help ease postpartum bruising as well. If you are having a water birth the water will help support your perineum.

Your baby's head will crown and be born, and then his body will rotate so that the rest of him can be born. You may push his shoulders out and feel the rest of his body slip out the rest of the way. If you have a big baby, he may require a little more pushing!

A New Beginning

Natural childbirth allows this most intimate of moments to happen as it should. Your baby will be born and you can pull him right up onto your chest. Take the time to get to know your new baby. He will be studying you, and you can study him.

You are in a timeless, overwhelming, amazing, and magical moment (just to name a few feelings!) Check out your baby. Offer your breast, but give him time to take it and to adjust. Natural childbirth gives the gift of absolute clarity and awareness for both you and your baby.

Your baby's birth marks the end of the second stage. Your hard work is mostly done now. You can cuddle your baby and truly enjoy him. Your baby is still connected to you via his umbilical cord. You will probably want to wait until the cord stops pulsing to cut it.

Finale - the Third Stage

Your baby's placenta will be born after your baby. Pushing out the placenta is the third stage of labor and birth. Shortly after your baby is born you will begin feeling contractions again. The muscles of your uterus are neatly shearing the placenta off the uterine wall. It will travel through the cervix and birth canal just as your baby did.

You will be helped to squat over a bowl or pad to deliver your baby's placenta. Since it has no bones, it's pretty easy to push out! Once your baby's placenta is born, the hard work of labor and birth are finally over.

Your doctor or midwife will be checking on you frequently to make sure that your uterus is firming up and that your bleeding is going well. But you are now able to truly settle in and enjoy your sweet baby.

Your amazing body and your amazing baby have done their job. You are a powerful woman to have given birth to your child. Enjoy!

If you are looking for good, clear explanations of what happens during labor and birth, I highly recommend the book Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way by Susan McCutcheon. It has clean, clear illustrations and good information on the physiology of labor and birth. Spiritual Midwifery also contains a wealth of information on the more technical side, if you want to delve even deeper.

Practicing Relaxation

You'll want to review natural pain relief for your birth.