In my last post, I identified that laboring women and their partners are being encouraged to stay at home and away from the hospital in early labor. But the definition of early labor has changed. It’s now widely believed that a laboring woman needs to get to about 6 cm dilation before active labor has begun. With this change in definition comes a longer amount of time working through contractions at home in early labor. In my opinion, it’s not enough to just encourage women to stay at home for longer periods of time. They need some concrete ideas on how to normalize early labor and pass the time together without added anxiety. To that end, I offer my “Top 10 Things to Consider in Early Labor.” For this post, I’ve listed the first 5 things to consider.
1) If labor contractions wake you from sleep, stay in bed. If these contractions are real-deal, then you won’t really be able to sleep through them, maybe more like rest. But once you realize that you can comfortably have a contraction while lying down, then you should do just that. The bigger question is, do you wake your sleeping partner yet? Some women will say, “Absolutely!” and others will say,”No way!” Check in with your partner to make sure that if they’re wanting to be awakened at the first sign of labor that you honor those wishes. Just make sure that they’re on board with the “stay in bed” regimen first. No need to get up and bust a move until your body requires you to do so.
2) Get busy. Yep, that’s exactly what I’m talking about. A little nipple stimulation, or better yet, great sex can have fantastic results in helping your body continue to move forward in labor. I say great sex, because it’s the combined efforts of prostaglandins found in semen acting to ripen your cervix plus the release of oxytocin when you orgasm that can contribute positively to getting the party started. As long as your water hasn’t broken, there should be no concern in using this technique to help move things along. What a great, connected way to begin labor together! Plus – it might be a while on the other side of baby’s arrival before you’ll be ready to go there again, so you should definitely take advantage while you can!
3) Once you’ve gotten out of bed, drink a big glass of water and go pee. These three things – changing position, drinking a big glass of water and peeing – will give you needed information about whether or not this is the start of early labor or just your irritable uterus talking. Real-deal contractions will continue no matter what position you’re in and if you change the status of your bladder (which, so conveniently sits beneath your uterus) it can help you figure out whether or not this is the start of early labor. If after changing position, drinking a big glass of water and peeing you’re still having contractions that seem fairly regular, you could choose to check in with your provider and let them know you think you might be in the early phase of labor. You could always wait to check in too, but sometimes touching base with your provider helps calm any nerves you might have as labor is just beginning.
4) Eat something. I don’t care what it is and, really, neither should you. At this point in your labor, eat whatever sounds good to you and something that you wouldn’t mind seeing again later in labor (if you get my meaning). Nothing super heavy or spicy or greasy – but other than that, fuel your body. It will be doing a lot of hard work today and you want to make sure it has what it needs to help you get through. Eating in labor should never be denied to you, but it’s important to note that many hospitals have a clear liquids only policy when a woman is laboring in the hospital. One more reason to stay at home when things are just getting started. It’s super challenging to try and give birth to a baby when you’re starving! Eat at home until your body tells you, “No more food, thank you – I’m all done.” This usually won’t happen until you’re farther along in active labor.
5) Take a shower and get ready for the day. Most of us would like to head in to this experience of giving birth looking and feeling as good as possible. So at the very least, a shower is a great way to start. Some women will go into this experience au natural, and others will want to have their hair and makeup done before the harder work of labor begins. I’ve even known some women who’ve had their partners give them a little mani-pedi to help pass the time (often with hilarious results!) There’s no right or wrong to this one. It’s most important that you feel good about yourself as labor is just beginning. Also, any amount of time a you take to get yourself together while contractions are still manageable allows time to pass more quickly – always a plus.
These are only the first 5 on my list of “Top 10 Things to Consider in Early Labor.”
As you can see, they focus on the practical.
I believe much of the rush into the hospital happens as a result of what women are fed about birth from seeing it portrayed on TV and movies from when they were just little girls. It’s hard to get your head wrapped around the idea that birth is normal. That for most women, it starts out slow and stays at a slow and steady pace for a good, long while. It’s hard for a pregnant woman to imagine that she might actually maintain normal activities for most of her early labor. It’s hard for her partner to let go of the idea that they won’t be racing into the hospital at break-neck speed!
But there are real reasons to encourage laboring Mommas to stay at home for as long as possible in early labor: they’ll feel more comfortable in their own homes, wearing their own clothes, eating their own food, stepping in and out of their own shower… If we can normalize and recreate a picture of early labor as something do-able for most women and provide some thoughts on how to help pass the time of early labor at home with as little anxiety as possible, then she can move through early labor feeling confident. Confident in her ability to recognize when she should be heading into the hospital, and confident in knowing that she’s lowered her risk of unnecessary interventions, medications and Cesarean Birth.
My next post will be about the remaining 5 on my list of “Top 10 things to Consider in Early Labor.”
