It is very relative to define how long is a delivery, because the time that elapses from the first contraction until the baby is born varies a lot from one woman to another. Various factors are involved in the duration of a birth, as if you are a first-time mother or not, the position of the baby and your emotional state, among many others.
Every birth is different, because every woman is different. There are women who can spend several days with labor while others give birth in a few hours. Even so, we are going to explain how a birth takes place and give you as a reference more or less the time pattern that the phases of labor usually have: latent dilation, active dilation, explusive and delivery.
Latent dilation
A few days before starting labor, you will experience the so-called labor prodromes, named for being predecessors of an event, announcing that labor is approaching.
You will feel contractions that can be annoying, but they do not become painful, and they are neither rhythmic nor regular. If you change position the contractions usually stop and their function is to erase and soften the cervix before dilation.
The of the latent dilation or passive or early dilation is usually the longest and least intense phase.
There are women who may be several days in this phase, because his neck is dilating very little by little, while in others it happens hours before the baby is born, being the average of about 10-12 hours.
They are not the so-called false contractions of Braxton Hicks that train the uterine muscle, but neither are the intense contractions that take place during dilation before the expulsion.
In the latent phase the cervix softens until it reaches 3-4 cm dilation which is when the next phase begins, that of the active dilation.
Active dilation
It is the phase that passes from 3-4 cm until the cervix reaches 10 cm dilation to open the birth canal and allow the baby to leave.
In the active dilation phase the uterine contractions are rhythmic, progressive and intense. Rhythmic means that each regular periods that are shortened occur. Progressive, which increases its duration reaching approximately 60 seconds. And intense, as the name implies, means that they are painful.
This phase is faster than the first. There is a first stage of accelerated dilation up to 5-6 cm dilation, which can last a couple of hours, and a second advanced dilation until complete erasure of the cervix. The process of dilation of the last 4-5 cm, it is usual to go faster, in 15-20 minutes, at most half an hour.
In both phases of dilation the woman has to be motion free, to adopt the positions that are most comfortable to better withstand the pain of contractions. Staying still does not help in the process, in fact it is shown that standing or walking shortens the dilation.
It is also advisable to get into a bathtub with warm water, as it relieves the pain of contractions and helps soften the perineum and relax the muscles, thus shortening the process.
Most likely, during active dilation, bag rupture occurs. Not all women break waters in the same phase of labor. Some break before contractions begin, others during the dilation phase while others do not break water until the moment of expulsion.
Expulsive
When the cervix is fully dilated, the mother usually feels great pressure on the lower back and / or on the perineum, which causes some intense desire to push, sensation known as the pujo reflex, an instinctive and physiological need that should not be controlled or directed.
If the amniotic bag has not yet been broken, it usually breaks spontaneously in this phase.
That physiological need for pujo makes the woman starts pushing with each contraction when she feels she must do it. The contractions are very intense in this phase and last between 60 and 90 seconds. The perception of pain at this time is very different according to the woman, sometimes they feel like contractions more painful than the previous ones, sometimes the fact of pushing makes the pain feel less.
The woman must be free from choose the birth position you want to give birth, lying on the side, sitting, squatting, standing, the vertical ones being the most suitable because they are the ones that, with the help of gravity and due to the pressure that the head makes on the perineum, facilitate expulsion .
With each contraction, the baby goes down the birth canal until the head appears. Once the head is released, the shoulders and the rest of the body come out.
This phase of expulsion can be of very variable duration, approximately between 30 and 60 minutes when it comes to the first birth and between 15 and 30 minutes when there have been other deliveries.
Delivery
Childbirth does not end with the birth of the baby. There is a last phase known as delivery, which consists of the exit of the placenta, membranes and the rest of the cord. The baby does not happen immediately upon leaving, and occurs when the cord stops beating.
Cord cutting should be done at least three minutes after birth, or preferably once it stops beating.
The most common is that the placenta comes out between 10 and 30 minutes after the baby is born, although it can also be delayed an hour or more.
The contractions at this stage, responsible for taking off and expelling the placenta, are hardly painful. The vertical position also helps in the process of birth, causing the placenta to pass to the lower segment of the uterus and to the vagina to be removed.
While waiting for the placenta to come out, it is a precious time for the newborn to be placed skin to skin with Mother. That first contact is the magical moment of the imprint, in which the baby is able to crawl instinctively to his mother's breast to breastfeed.
The text of this article has been updated on February 15, 2013
Photos | Raphael Goetter and a4gpa on Flickr In Babies and more | How long was your delivery?
