Labour usually starts slowly and then speeds up.
There are three distinct stages:
First stage
Contractions open up the cervix.
Second stage
The actual birth, where you push your baby out.
Third stage
The delivery of the placenta, or ‘afterbirth.’
In the very early part of the first stage you may have short contractions every 20 minutes or so. As labour progresses, the contractions will get longer, stronger and closer together and may come every ten minutes.
Towards the end of the first stage you may have them every four or five minutes, and, finally every two to three minutes.
Midwives and obstetricians will probably say that you’re not in labour until you have reached ‘established’ or ‘active’ labour, when the contractions are strong and frequent, and your cervix is dilating well. Anything before this is seen as the build up to labour and is called the latent phase. Established labour can take around 6-12 hours – you may feel that you have been in labour a lot longer if you count the latent phase as well.
The total length of labour, if you count the latent and active phases, depends partly on whether this is your first baby, the position the baby is in and when you first notice contractions. Before the birth, if you manage to sleep through the first few hours of latent labour, it will seem much shorter than if you wake up at the first twinge.
