Induction is an attempt to imitate natural labor and birth by causing contractions of the uterus. There are several reasons why your labor may need to be induced. Common reasons for an induction of labor include but are not limited to :. Be sure you understand why induction of labor is recommended and what the benefits and risks are in your case.
This may stimulate contractions and hopefully labor in some women. This quick procedure can be uncomfortable and often there is some light vaginal spotting and cramping afterwards. Sweeping the membranes is only effective in a small number of women.
However, it may be worth a try, as it is a minimally invasive method of trying to induce labor. Cervical Balloon: This non-medical option involves a small flexible catheter that is inserted into your cervix. A balloon is inflated there, which helps to dilate your cervix. It may be kept in for 12 hours or until it falls out.
This is a great option for women who have previously had a Cesarean birth. They hopefully cause the cervix to soften, shorten and begin to open. They do this by causing cramping and contractions of the uterus. Often multiple doses over many hours are required to get the cervix ready for labor. Your baby is monitored for hours after the use of the agents, depending on the method used. You may be given one or more doses of these agents.
Depending on your response and condition, you may be sent home with arrangements to return the following day ; be admitted to the hospital for observation; or begin labor after their use. After the ripening agents have their effect, you will be re-evaluated. Your OB providers will decide whether to repeat the ripening agent or move on to Pitocin see below. Sometimes ripening your cervix requires a day or more when your body is not ready for labor.
Also, induction of labor, like natural labor, almost always takes much longer if this is your first baby, so be prepared! Amniotomy breaking the bag of water is sometimes recommended by clinicians to induce labor. This procedure is done during a vaginal exam in the hospital. Your baby must be low in the pelvis and the cervix must be open some for a provider to break the water.
This method is not always effective, and works best on women who are at least a few centimeters dilated and have had a baby before. Like all medical inductions of labor, there are risks and benefits from inducing labor this way. Your OB providers will discus these with you prior to breaking the bag of water. Pitocin is a synthetic hormone, identical to the hormone oxytocin, which is made by your body and causes contractions. Pitocin is added to IV fluids and given through your IV in slowly increasing doses to cause contractions and hopefully make your labor start.
Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Effacement is when the cervix thins, shortens, and softens to open the vaginal canal for childbirth. During pregnancy , the cervix is long, thick, and closed. The cervix helps to keep the baby secure and safe from germs getting into the uterus that could cause an infection. For the baby to be born, the cervix has to go through some significant changes.
Effacement is part of these changes. The word efface means to withdraw, eliminate, or remove something. During labor, your cervix effaces by shortening, thinning out, and almost disappearing up toward the uterus to prepare for childbirth. Doctors and nurses describe effacement in a percentage. Once effacement is complete, the cervix can fully dilate or open up for birth. Early contractions begin to pull on the cervix. With all the pressure and pulling, the cervix starts to shorten and thin out.
However, there's no set time for how long it should take. Every woman experiences it differently. For others, it may not happen until labor begins. Still, others may need help from medications to get things going a week or two after their due date. When actual labor begins, the contractions really start to stretch the cervix. First-time moms may labor longer because they tend to efface before they dilate. But, in later pregnancies, effacement and dilation usually happen together and more quickly.
After having already had a child, your cervix is already less firm and more flexible from the delivery of the first child. In the last week or two before your due date, your doctor may make an educated guess on how close you are to delivering based on your cervix.
However, there's no guarantee. Some women have all the signs and don't deliver for a few more weeks. Others have no signs, then they efface and dilate overnight and give birth the next day. As noted above, the cervix needs to become fully effaced in order for the baby's head to move through the vaginal canal and be delivered. You're unlikely to feel your cervix shortening and getting thinner. However, it may be happening if:. At your prenatal visits near the end of your pregnancy, your doctor, nurse, or midwife will examine you to see if your body is beginning to prepare for labor.
Your health care provider will feel your cervix to check for the following signs:. Once you're in labor, the doctors and nurses check your cervix regularly to keep track of how effaced and dilated you are as you get closer to delivering.
The active stage of labor is characterized more by the rate of regular cervical dilation per hour. Your doctor will expect to see your cervix opening at a more regular rate during this stage. The active stage of labor can range from a woman dilating anywhere from 0. Mothers who have delivered a baby before tend to move more quickly through labor. Some women will simply progress more quickly than others. A woman may reach full cervical dilation, but the baby may still need time to move down the birth canal fully to be ready for birth.
The second stage ends after the baby is delivered. It can last anywhere from minutes to hours. Women may deliver with only a few hard pushes, or push for an hour or more. Pushing occurs only with contractions, and the mother is encouraged to rest between them. At this point, the ideal frequency of contractions will be about 2 to 3 minutes apart, lasting 60 to 90 seconds.
In general, pushing takes longer for first-time pregnant people and for women who have had epidurals. How long a woman is allowed to push depends on:. The mother should be encouraged to change positions, squat with support, and rest between contractions. Again, every woman and baby is different. The third stage of labor is perhaps the most forgotten phase. Once the baby is born, the placenta no longer has a function, so her body must expel it.
The placenta is delivered the same way as the baby, through contractions. They may not feel as strong as the contractions that are needed to expel the baby.
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