Labor pain

Some women experience very different signs of labor pain. There are several hormonal and physical changes may indicate the beginning of labor

There are three stages of Labor pain.

The first stage starts with the onset of uterine contractions that open up the cervix or the mouth of the uterus to about 10 cms. Generally this lasts for 8-14 hours. Pain usually deepens towards the end when the contractions become frequent and stronger. This time your cervix is 4-5 cms open. 

The second stage your cervix is fully dilated and is completed with the birth of the baby. This stage lasts for 1-2 hours for the first baby.

The third stage starts immediately after the birth of the baby and concludes with the delivery of the placenta. It takes 15 mts to one hour. The delivery of the placenta is accompanied with some amount of bleeding. The episiotomy is stitched immediately afterwards.

Lightening

The process of your baby relaxing or lowering into your pelvis just before labor is called lightening. Lightening can occur a few weeks or a few hours before labor. Because the uterus rests on the bladder more after lightening, you may feel the need to urinate more frequently. 

Contractions

During the pregnancy time your abdomen becomes hard Contractions means the uterus relaxes and the abdomen becomes soft. The way a contraction feels is different for each woman, and may feel different from one pregnancy to the next. But labor contractions usually cause discomfort or a dull pain in your back and lower abdomen, along with pressure in the pelvis. 

Contractions move in a wave-like motion from the top of the uterus to the bottom. Some women describe contractions as strong menstrual pains. Unlike false labor contractions or Braxton Hicks contractions, true labor contractions do not stop when you change your position or relax. Although the contractions may be uncomfortable, you will be able to relax in between contractions. 

Passing of the mucus plug 

The mucus plug stores at the cervix during pregnancy. When the cervix begins to open wider, the mucus is discharged into the vagina and may be clear, pink, or slightly bloody. Labor may begin soon after the mucus plug is discharged or one to two weeks later. 

Water breaking

The rupture of the amniotic membrane may feel either like a sudden flow of fluid or a drop of fluid that leaks steadily. The fluid is usually neutral and may look clear or straw-colored. If your "water breaks," write down the time this occurs, how much fluid is released and what the fluid looks like and then notify your health care provider. Although, labor may not start immediately after your water breaks, delivery of your baby will occur within the next 24 hours.

Effacement and dilation of the cervix

In the final weeks of pregnancy, as the lower part of the uterus gets ready for the baby to come out, the cervix starts to get shorter and thinner. This process is called effacement. The cervix becomes more and more effaced, it gets shorter and shorter and increasingly “pulled up”, eventually seeming to become part of the lower uterus. Effacement is also sometimes referred to as “ripening” or “thinning out.” As the cervix destroys and thins out, it also begins to stretch and open. This is called dilation. This widening and opening makes it easier for the baby’s head and the rest of its body to pass through from the uterus into the vaginal canal for delivery.   

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