How to start labor in primiparous women? Signs and sensations during first birth

The appearance of contractions pregnant waiting and at the same time experiencing before them animal fear. Popular rumor ascribes to this stage of labor the strongest pain. If experienced moms go for repeated or third birth and are already well aware of what awaits them, then women, who are eagerly awaiting the appearance of their first child, are at a loss. We will tell about the features and sensations, the timing and duration of contractions in women who give birth for the first time in this article.

Childbirth is a natural process of completing a baby. Nature took him exactly 10 lunar months, so that from one crushing cell become a real little man, just very small yet. Birth can begin both on time and sooner or later. According to statistics, the onset of labor in primiparous women usually occurs either at week 39–40 or at week 40–42 of pregnancy. The date indicated in the exchange card is only a guide for the doctor and the pregnant woman; only 5% of pregnant women give birth strictly in the DA.

Birth can begin in different ways. From the discharge of water, from the exit of the mucous membrane, from the beginning of the rhythmic contractions of the uterus - contractions. The latter option is considered the most preferred, since premature rupture of water always complicates childbirth, even if they occur just in time. It is from contractions that the process of childbirth manifests itself in the vast majority of expectant mothers. Only 10% of women begin to give birth with the discharge of water.

The contractions are called contractions of the muscles of the uterus. Labor pains occur simultaneously with the opening of the cervix. This muscular tight ring throughout pregnancy was tightly closed, and the cervical canal inside it was closed by a mucus plug. The beginning of the opening of the neck is accompanied by contractions that grow and become stronger as it expands.

Fights begin suddenly, but develop gradually. True labor contractions may be preceded by false, training. They can be celebrated from the 20th week of pregnancy either to appear later or not to appear at all. But before giving birth - in a couple of weeks or a little less - almost all women can occasionally feel a short-term uterine tension. This is the preparatory work of the female body before childbirth.

The purpose of labor contractions is obvious - at the first stage, they are necessary for the cervix to open and release the passage for the child, who will have to go through the birth canal and be born. They compress the space inside the uterus, leading to rupture of the membranes of the fetus; in the stage of active contractions of the water depart and it is considered quite timely. Rhythmic contractions of the uterus slightly "push" the baby to the exit. His time has come, it is no longer necessary to remain in the womb.

The first birth is always a lot of questions, the main of which is how to recognize whether the birth began and whether it is time to go to the maternity hospital.On the subject, experienced obstetricians have an old joke, which says that if a woman has doubts about whether she gives birth, then she does not give birth, since it is impossible to confuse childbirth and training uterine contractions. But with obstetricians in this solidarity are mostly women who are pregnant a second or third time, they know for sure that doctors are not cunning.

And it seems to the first-born woman that at any moment she can miss something important and be late to the hospital. As already stated a few days before the birth, the female body begins to prepare for the upcoming event. In the cells of the uterus begins to increase the amount of a special protein - actomyosin. He is responsible for the ability of cells to reduce. At the same time, the woman’s placenta and pituitary gland begin to produce oxytocin and relaxin. The first hormone increases the contractile ability of the female reproductive organ, and the second is responsible for the softening of the ligamentous apparatus, because during labor the uterus will change shape.

With these changes, the final preparatory stage starts, during which women anxiously try to find some “precursors” in themselves, whom she read about in women's forums and who can make it clear that childbirth is not far off. Anxiety, mild depression, mood changes, sleep disturbance, insomnia, more active training bouts can be attributed to the precursors. They appear like this: the stomach kameneet, slightly "smacks" in the sides and lower abdomen (due to the tension of the ligaments), and then they pass and can be repeated in half an hour, and after 5 hours, and in a day.

Contractions, precursors are not distinguished by regularity, they come on their own and just disappear. A woman can easily relieve discomfort just by taking a shower, drinking a glass of milk or a pill "No-Shpy" or even changing the position of the body. With a training bout, a pregnant woman can go to bed and doze off quite successfully.

Can I miss the moment of the onset of real bouts? Obviously not. After all, the true contractions are rhythmic from the very beginning, they are repeated at regular intervals, the pain is no longer pulling, but a light shingles, the back and waist areas are drawn into it, the pain increases with each contraction. It is impossible to fall asleep, the tablet “No-Shpy” or a shower will not take action. If labor pains have begun, it is unlikely that they will stop or weaken them. The duration of the bout will be the same every time. And this is the main difference between the “forerunners” and real fights.

As soon as a woman notices that the tension of the uterus becomes regular and obeys a certain rhythm, we can say that the first stage of labor is already underway. It is called latent (hidden).

If there is no bleeding, no water has departed, no need to rush to call an ambulance and urgently rush to the hospital with special signals. The latent period during the first birth is usually the longest. It lasts up to 10-12 hours, on average, about 7-8 hours, and therefore there is plenty of time to bring your nerves and feelings in order, psychologically tune in to a positive outcome of events and check things and documents collected at the hospital in advance.

During this period, the pain is moderate, increasing gradually. At the very beginning they are felt as usual pains during menstruation, then they intensify, but the character remains the same. During pregnancy, women are taught proper breathing during childbirth. The latent period - it's time to start applying theoretical knowledge in practice - to breathe properly, taking deep breaths and exhalations to relax as much as possible. You can walk, sing, chat. Lying in one position horizontally is not worth it.

Feelings are undulating progressive character. The contraction usually "originates" in the back, covers the lower back and goes first to the lower and then up the abdomen. Then the tension subsides, the woman gets the opportunity to relax a bit until the next fight.

During the latent phase, contractions become longer. The earliest signs of labor contractions can be determined by measuring the duration of the spasm and the gap between the episodes of the spasms. In this first period, the average duration of one contraction from the moment of exertion to the moment of relaxation is 20-25 seconds. The spasms repeat once every half hour, then once every 20 minutes.

By the end of the latent stage of labor, the contractions last 25 seconds and are repeated every 10-15 minutes. It is on this optimistic note that one should arrive at the maternity hospital. The cervix at this point reaches a disclosure of 3 centimeters. The next phase of contractions is active, it should take place in the conditions of the genitive house. So it will be safer for everyone.

After the opening of the cervix at 3 centimeters, contractions become quite painful, and time begins to occur more often. The duration of the fight is 25-60 seconds, between fights takes place within 3 minutes.

The contractions at this stage look like a protracted spasm, the peak of the contraction becomes long. Usually at this stage in normal childbirth waste water.

The duration of this period is 3-5 hours. At this time, a woman should preferably be under the supervision of a physician. Usually at this stage they begin to monitor the condition of the fetus with CTG, the woman is already in the antenatal ward.

During the active period of contractions, the uterus opens on average up to 7 centimeters. This is already quite a lot, but so far not enough for the baby’s head to pass through.

This period is final. After it starts the attempts - the shortest period of childbirth. Transitional contractions are also called a slowdown phase. Themselves spasms reach a maximum value for the entire period of labor. Each contraction lasts at least a minute and the spasms repeat every 2-3 minutes.

In general, the transition period lasts from half an hour to one and a half hours. During this time, the cervix opens up to 10-12 centimeters (depending on the size of the pelvis). This disclosure is considered complete because it allows the baby’s head to pass through.

In the transition period, the woman begins to feel a pronounced pressure on the bottom, as it usually feels if you really want to empty your intestines.

If the woman in childbirth is not under the constant control of the doctor, then the feeling of pressure and a great desire to go to the toilet in a big way is a signal to call the medical staff and go to the hospital.

Next begin the attempts. A woman needs to keep calm, breathe properly, not to make sharp exhalations until the end of the attempts, to push only at the command of the obstetrician. During the attempts the baby will turn, bend the head, he also tries very hard to be born as soon as possible. An abnormal behavior of a woman in this situation can lead to the child getting a birth trauma, the occurrence of acute hypoxia, which is extremely dangerous for him.

A period of attempts under favorable circumstances and the perfect behavior of a woman in labor can last 20-30 minutes. Less commonly, primiparous tsuzhatsya for an hour and a half, and it is very rare to prolong the period of attempts up to 2 hours.

As soon as the baby is born, the woman can relax. Ahead - there is still the birth of the afterbirth, but it will not be so painful and unpleasant any more, especially since the baby is applied to the breast and the mother can already look at the crumbs, hug, so for many the birth of the placenta is relatively easy. This period takes from 20 to 40 minutes.

At this birth ends.A woman is sent to a postpartum ward for rest, the baby is sent to a children's ward in order to be treated, washed, examined by neonatologists. They will meet in a few hours, if there are no contraindications from either obstetricians or pediatricians.

It is often possible to hear the opinion that the first birth is always harder and more painful than the next. To some extent, it is true, but not in terms of pain, but rather because of the fear that a woman in childbirth experiences during the first birth. Lack of generic experience makes it difficult for a woman to choose a comfortable posture during contractions, from time to time she forgets what she was taught at the preparatory courses in the antenatal clinic. At such moments, some begin to panic. From the point of view of psychological readiness, women who gave birth earlier, in subsequent births, behave more disciplinedly.

The birth canal of the first-time female is narrower and less elastic. They stretch harder, and therefore even attempts are felt differently and last longer. The cervix also opens longer, and nothing can be done about this physiological aspect.

The first birth is often accompanied by complications. It can not be said that during the second birth unforeseen difficulties will not manifest, there are always chances, but it is the primipara that most often encounters such a phenomenon as primary or secondary weakness of labor forces when contractions do not lead to the opening of the cervix, and attempts do not advance the baby forward . In primiparous gestation or tears of the perineum and cervix are more common.

Women who are preparing to become mothers for the first time need to prepare for childbirth in advance. Training must be consistent and constructive. It is precisely a clear understanding of the upcoming process without unnecessary fear and emotions, as well as an understanding of the order of one’s own actions at different stages of labor, which will be the key to a successful delivery.

Start training should be from mid-pregnancy. Already in the 20th week it makes sense to enroll in the school of future mothers who work in any antenatal clinic. Practicing gynecologists, pediatricians, psychologists will help prepare for the most important event in the life of a woman as best you can. Preparation includes the following information.

• Expansion of the theoretical base of knowledge about physiological processes and the biomechanism of genera.

• Learning the proper breathing technique during labor and battles. It is necessary to practice breathing exercises during pregnancy carefully, half-heartedly, but it is recommended to be given at least 10-15 minutes a day. Then proper breathing will be natural and when labor begins, a woman will not have to remember how and when to breathe in and out in order to relieve pain and help herself and the child. Breathing techniques help the painful period of contractions to be less painful, because due to the saturation of the body with oxygen, there is an enhanced production of endorphins, which have an analgesic effect.

• Training massage technique and self-massage. Starting from the latent period and to the very effort, massage of the sacral area, acupressure of the arm and face will help relieve tension and pain. All receptions will be shown and told during the training by experienced midwives.
• Psychological counseling. They will help to form the right attitude towards childbirth and birth pain. It has long been observed that the stronger the woman’s fear of contractions, the more painful and longer they last. The psychologist will talk about some techniques that allow a woman to be more confident in their abilities and abilities.
• Learning poses that make it easier to survive contractions. In real childbirth before the period of attempts, a woman will be able to change her body position, adjusting to her own feelings.

• Legal and domestic assistance. The future mom on the courses will be told about what benefits and payments she can expect after the baby is born, how to get maternity leave, and also tell you what things need to be collected at the maternity hospital, when to do it, what documents you will need to provide at hospitalization in obstetric institution.

According to reviews of women who gave birth for the first time, in practice the understanding of the periods of labor is somewhat erased, under stress, it is impossible to reasonably compare and compare the theoretical knowledge obtained earlier, and what is happening right now. Feelings during labor, according to reviews, are really very similar to menstrual, but only the place of localization of pain and the power of sensations is completely different.

Women who are categorically opposed to medical anesthesia for contractions respond with great respect to Lamaz's preparatory method - a set of preparatory techniques that include not only breathing exercises, but also yoga, fitball, meditation, aromatherapy, cold and warm compresses. They argue that the pain was at a minimum, the contractions were tolerable, and the delivery was generally more easily and safely.

Some women deliberately refuse epidural anesthesia, because they consider contractions quite natural, and tolerate them well, thanks only to breathing techniques, massage and the right mood.

Read more about when the contractions begin in nulliparous women, see the following video.