Labor and Delivery
Being prepared for the labor and delivery process can help you have the empowering birth experience you want. Whether labor begins on its own or it’s started through an induction, it can be helpful to know what you may experience as your labor progresses toward delivering your baby.
Stages of Labor
Stage 1 – Early & Active Labor
Early Labor
During this time, contractions will become more regular, and your water may break. As your contractions become more intense, you should have a plan in place to go to the hospital or call your birth provider. Early labor can last anywhere from hours to days, while active labor only lasts 4-8 hours.
For many women, early labor isn’t particularly uncomfortable, but contractions may be more intense for some. Try to stay relaxed. To promote comfort during early labor, go for a walk, take a shower or bath, change positions, try breathing or relaxation techniques you learned in childbirth classes.
If you’re having an uncomplicated pregnancy, you may spend most of your early labor at home until your contractions start to increase in frequency and intensity. Contact your health care provider for instructions about when to go to the hospital or birthing center.
If your water breaks or you experience significant vaginal bleeding, call your health care provider immediately and pay attention to the time in between your contractions. Remember, it’s important to include others in your care team so they can also look for signs of when to help you seek medical assistance.
Active Labor
During active labor, your cervix will dilate from 6 to 10 cm, preparing for your baby to enter the world. Your contractions will become stronger, closer together, and regular. Your legs might cramp, and you might feel nauseated. You might feel your water break (if it hasn’t already) and experience increasing pressure in your back. If you haven’t headed to your labor and delivery facility yet, now’s the time.
Active labor often lasts 4 to 8 hours or more. On average, your cervix will dilate at approximately 1 cm an hour.
Look to your family or health care team for encouragement and support. Try breathing and relaxation techniques to relieve your discomfort or have someone massage your lower back or feet.
Speak to your health care provider about available pain management options that are suitable for your circumstances. Your pregnancy care provider might ask an anesthesiologist (a provider who specializes in pain relief) to talk with you about pain relief options such as epidural or spinal anesthesia.
While the last part of active labor, referred to as transition, is often the shortest in duration, it can be particularly intense and painful as the cervix completely dilates to the full 10 cm. Contractions will come close together and can last 60 to 90 seconds. Pressure in your pelvis is normal and occurs as the baby is getting ready to enter the birth canal.
If you feel the urge to push but you’re not fully dilated, your health care provider will ask you to hold back. Pushing too soon could make you tired and cause your cervix to swell, which might delay delivery. Use controlled breathing techniques through the contractions. Transition typically lasts 15 to 60 minutes.
Stage 2 – Birth
The delivery of your baby can take minutes or hours and is a unique experience for every mother. Immediately following the birth of your baby, you may hold your baby to your chest for the first time. Cherish this moment! Your care team will make sure your baby has stable vitals and tend to any of your needs.
Natural Delivery
A natural delivery offers women the unique experience to bring new life into the world. It is often described as a beautiful and intense process for women who have proper preparation. Natural delivery is optimal when the baby’s head is positioned to be delivered first. Your care team will coach you through when to push, when to slow down, and when to stop pushing.
After your baby’s head is delivered, the rest of the baby’s body will follow shortly. The baby’s airway may need to be cleared at this point. If you’ve had an uncomplicated delivery, your health care provider may wait a few seconds to a few minutes before the umbilical cord is cut. Delaying clamping and cutting the umbilical cord after delivery increases the flow of nutrient-rich blood from the cord and the placenta to the baby. This increases the baby’s iron stores and reduces the risk of anemia, promoting healthy development and growth.
Cesarean Delivery
There are times when vaginal delivery is not a safe option for either the baby or the mother, such as the baby being too large to pass through the birth canal, labor not progressing properly, a baby is in the wrong position, you’re birthing twins or more, or other situations.
In these cases, the physician may advise performing a C-section or cesarean delivery, which is the surgical delivery of a baby through a surgical cut or incision in a woman’s abdomen and uterus.
Even if you don’t plan to have a C-section, there are situations when it becomes necessary. About 30% of all babies in the U.S. are born via C-section.
Stage 3 – Delivery of the Placenta
After your baby is born, you’ll likely feel a great sense of relief. A lot will continue to happen around you as your care team ensures you and your baby are doing well. During the third stage of labor, you will deliver the placenta.
The placenta is typically delivered within 30 minutes, but the process can take up to an hour.
You may have mild, less painful contractions compared to active labor. The contractions help move the placenta into the birth canal. Your health care provider will guide you when to push gently one more time to deliver the placenta. Once the placenta is delivered, your provider will examine it to make sure it’s intact. In the rare case that placenta fragments are retained after delivery, these will be removed from the uterus to prevent bleeding and infection.
After a Healthy Birth
Early skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding help you to build a strong bond with your baby and establish breastfeeding. Welcoming your baby with skin-to-skin contact keeps your baby calmer, helps to regulate body temperature, and helps breastfeeding get off to a good start. It makes for a more confident mother. Skin-to-skin contact triggers the baby’s natural instincts to breastfeed.
Newborn Screening
Thanks to advancements in medicine, newborn screening allows medical professionals to identify potentially debilitating and life-threatening conditions within the first weeks of an infant’s life, giving children in Florida the best possibility for early interventions and care. A few drops of blood are drawn from the newborn’s heel 24 to 48 hours after birth, and tests for hearing loss and critical congenital heart defects are conducted before the newborn leaves the hospital.
If screening results are abnormal, the Florida Department of Health’s Newborn Screening Program will contact the parents and/or the newborn’s health care provider to arrange for additional testing to rule out or confirm initial findings.
Postnatal Screening
Each baby receives the postnatal screening. Just as your health care provider talked with you to identify any risk factors or challenges that you may have faced during pregnancy, you will be asked questions after delivery to identify any challenges your family may face with your new baby.
Parenting Tip: It is helpful to plan ahead and talk to your friends and family about how they handled becoming a new parent as the delivery of your baby gets closer.
Birth Complications
Miscarriage
A miscarriage is a sudden loss of pregnancy before 20 weeks. Symptoms of a miscarriage include vaginal bleeding, pain or cramping in the lower back/pelvic area, fast heartbeat, and abnormal fluid or tissues passing from the vagina.
If you think you have experienced a miscarriage, call your health care provider.
Stillbirth
A stillbirth is the loss of pregnancy after 20 weeks. Symptoms of stillbirth include the absence of fetal movement, vaginal bleeding, and cramps.
If it is suspected your baby has passed away, your pregnancy care team will use medical equipment to listen for a fetal heartbeat.
