2.  Your joints, hips, and pelvis relax and open
 Ligaments soften
 Baby may drop deeper into your pelvis
 Other signs:
› Loose stool, more mucus discharge or cramping
 Reminder: Everyone’s body is different so there can
be varying signs of pre-labor.
 Know your body and listen to it.

3.  Warm-up or Pre-labor
 Stage 1- Latent Stage
› Dilate 4-5cm
› Contractions are short (5-20min apart)
› pain stronger
› Not time to go to hospital/birthing center
 Active Phase
› Contractions last 45-60 seconds
› More intense
› Time to gather support people and go to hospital/birthing center
 Transition Phase
 Stage 2 – Pushing/ Giving Birth
 Stage 3 – Delivery of Placenta
 Stage 4 – Recovery
› There is a great chart in the book that discusses how long each stage lasts, dilation
of cervix, pain, and other things that may happen during each stage.

4.  Movement, position, and Rhythm
› Walking, swaying, lunging, moving on birthing ball, and
dancing
 Comfort water
› Found to relax both mother and baby reducing mothers
pain
 Breathing
› Concentrating on your breath can relax muscles and get
rid of tension
 Hypnosis
 Touch
› Touch is powerful and can reduce anxiety

5.  Heat and Cold
 Either can be soothing on the back or abdomen
 Medications
› Not available in outside of hospital births
› Usually a narcotic
 Injectable or Intravenous Opioids
› Morphine, Demerol, etc
 Epidurals and Spinals
› Used to numb from the waste down
› Epidurals is a catheter placed into the epidural space of
spine
› Spinal is a one time injection into the spinal cord

6. › Two ways to give birth
 Vaginal
 Cesarean section
 More intense contractions start
 10cm dilated
 Most women start to help by pushing to push the
baby through the vagina
 There are times when pushing does not work and
assistance is needed from vacuum extractor or
forceps

7.  Birth by Cesarean section
› Surgical removal of baby by an incision in the lower belly
region
› Certain circumstances like position of baby is wrong, or
health complications of mother or baby
 Delivery of placenta
› Completes birthing process
› Must naturally come out of your body provider should not
pull it out

8.  Because everyone’s bodies are so
different to you believe that anyone can
be fully prepared to give birth?