5 Important Things That Moms Should Do At The Time Of Labor
There are a few things that can be done to make the labor phase as bearable and seamless as possible. Find out more.
Labour is a normal physiological function in pregnant women to deliver the neonate through the vagina. Being a very painful procedure, it is it is a physiological and psychological experience for women. And that experience differs from woman to woman. For convenience of understanding the process of labour is divided three stages.
A woman's pain during labour occurs due to the uterine muscles' contraction and the cervix's pressure. Pain can also be felt around the sides and thighs. During labour pain, the muscles of the uterus tighten and then relax.
The strong to very strong contraction of the uterine muscle and the consequent pressure exerted on the cervix produces pain which gradually increases in intensity depending up on the strength of the contractions. The progress of the labour depends on the strength and frequency of contractions and so does the pain. After each contraction, the uterus relaxes intermittently, and pain reduces during relaxation.
As the due date is approaching, the body sometimes gives out false signals of labour, known as "false labour". False labour is characterized by mild contractions that are not very painful, lasts for a short duration of time, does not occur at regular intervals of time, and is not accompanied by bleeding, leakage of amniotic fluid, or reduced fetal movements. It is also known as Braxton Hicks contractions.
Beginning a few days before actual labour pregnant women experience intermittent and irregular contractions which are mild in nature and are generally referred to as false pains. These mild contractions are not accompanied by any significant vaginal discharge or bleeding. As the time for delivery approaches, these contractions become more regular, frequent and grow stronger in force. Usually, there will not be any watery discharge or bleeding from the vagina.
The process of human labour is specifically divided into three stages:
Stage 1: Uterine contractions become regular in frequency, increasingly more powerful with pain reaching a crescendo. This is the stage of dilatation of the cervix which admits one finger to begin with and reaches a width of 10 centimeters. Intensity of contraction, pain and dilation of cervix varies form individual to individual and between first pregnancy and succeeding pregnancy.
During this stage women get exhausted due to the severity of contractions of uterus and accompanying pain. It calls for good nutritional support in the form of beverages and fruit juices liberally while avoiding solid foods to prevent accumulation of food residue in the stomach.
Stage 2: With complete dilatation of the cervix the descent of the fetus starts marking the beginning of second state. The fetus under the contraction of uterus and with the yielding of birth canal, maneuvers its descent in a well-known pattern to get delivered resulting in birth. Uterine contractions continue but with much reduced severity and force. Pain also gets correspondingly reduced. Several postures are practiced during the second stage depending upon the prevailing practices. The umbilical cord is double ligated and severed between the knots to prevent bleeding.
Stage 3: During this stage the placenta and the fetal membranes get delivered known as ‘after birth’. The normal duration of the third stage is between 5 to 30 minutes. Placenta need to be carefully examined for being complete in order to prevent post-partum bleeding.
Labour pain varies among individuals and among women with birth order. However, some common symptoms of labour are:
Onset of active labour may be diagnosed with the help of the following findings:
Generally, labour pain could be managed to make the parturient comfortable though labour is a temporarily painful physiological condition. Unless the parturient is high strung and apprehensive there is no need for medication for pain during labour. General measures are:
The following are some of the pharmacological options for managing labor pain:
Analgesics: Pain killers in normal therapeutic doses have no virtually no role in reducing the pain during labour as in labour the uterine contractions are neurological mediated and controlled. If higher doses of analgesics alone and in combination with other pharmacological agents is known to have deleterious effect on the vital functions of the parturient and the fetus. Some of the drugs used for to hasten the cervical ripening, for example have sever impact on the fetal central nervous system. No place for analgesics.
Anaesthesia in Labour: Since labour is a neurologically controlled physiological process there is a definite role for Anaesthesia in reducing the pain during labour. This can be achieved either by the application of anaesthetics locally or through a regional block anaesthesia. Certain amount of experience is required in the case of local block anaesthesia and more expertise is required in regional anaesthetic block.
Several complications can arise during labour. Some of them are as follows:
Pregnancy and childbirth are normal physiological process which proceeds to labour in a normal well-known pattern almost always. Yet rarely there could be instances that complicate the normal progression of labour and childbirth these include:
There are a few things that can be done to make the labor phase as bearable and seamless as possible. Find out more.
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