A very common question is exactly how to know when you’re going into labour. Below are some of the more common signs:

• Losing the mucus plug – this is what keeps baby safe during pregnancy. It may come away in one piece, chunks or as a yellow discharge.
• Having a bloody show – similar to a light period or spotting.
• Nesting - many women experience a burst of energy and feel the need to clean the house top to bottom.
• Diarrhea - a common sign that the body is cleaning you out in preparation for labour.
• Dropping - some women feel the baby drop into the birth canal or feel extreme pressure on their pelvis.
• Back pain – it’s common to have back pain, especially towards the end. This can either be the beginning of contractions or due to baby being posterior (facing mother’s stomach instead of spine to spine).

Once labour has begun, it can slow down or even stop. Many things can disrupt labour so here is a list of tips to help establish labour and speed it along.

Being upright - when upright the babys head will put more pressure on the cervix to encourage dialation.

Movement - moving your hips around will encourage the baby into the perfect position in the pelvis. Try standing and slow dancing with your partner, gently swaying hips. Try bouncing on an excercise ball and moving hips around in circles on the ball.

Visualisation - with each contraction imagine your cervix opening and your baby descending.

Relaxation - this one is very important. If you are uptight and frightened and fight the contractions your body will too and you wont dialate properly. It is also possible though unusual for a mothers cervix to start to close up again when she is too scared and frightened and not relaxed enough. Ina May Gaskin spoke of this occurance and I think I may have experienced it myself. When I was labouring with my daughter the labour moved along very very fast so that the sudden speed and intensity had me frightened and scared. A nurse said I was 9cm and called an ob who checked me 10 mins later and said I was only 7cm. I cannot emphasise enough the importance of embracing each contraction and relaxing through them. Relaxing through pain may sound difficult, I recommend deep breathing with an open and relaxed mouth, this really helps.

Hydration - so important to keep your fluids up in order to keep up your bodys energy levels! Have someone on water duty to give you a sip between each contraction. Powerade or similar is a good idea.

Choose your support people - you must be completely comfortable with those you choose to support you during labour. This includes hospital staff as well. If a member of staff is bothering you then ask if someone else is available. A woman needs to be in a completely comfortable and relaxed environment with only good and encouraging support.

Note to support people - offer alot of encouragement to the labouring mother until she tells you to shut up. Wait until after each contraction to tell her how brilliantly she managed it. Massages are a brilliant idea to help her relax, especially in the lower back area. Burning some clary sage oil (to encourage good contractions) and lavender (to help mum relax) is also good along with some nice and calming music.

Heres a list of tips I have compiled that I found to be helpful in making the birth easier:

Baby’s position (highly important from about 36weeks)

• You want the baby to be LOA, basically head down with the babys spine in the front of your belly
• If baby is lop/rop (babys spine to mothers spine) you need to help baby turn before labour begins.
• There are yoga moves that can help, crawling on all fours, sitting with a straight posture, never slouching, prop up the seat in the car so it tips your pelvis forward.
• See www.spinningbabies.com
• Baby being posterior means you’re likely to go past your due date, you’re likely to get back pain, the labour will be longer and the baby will be harder to birth if they don’t turn during labour.

Raspberry Leaf Tea

• Start drinking a cup a day through the third trimester. Increase amount toward due date.
• Raspberry Leaf Tea strengthens the uterus so when you go into labour your contractions will be more effective.
• You can get it from the health food shop, if you don’t like the taste its available in tablet form.

Evening Primrose Oil

• Very good to help the cervix begin softening and dilating.
• Won’t put you into labour, not unless you’re about to go anyway.
• I would recommend it because if you get to the stage where you need to be induced you are more likely to get away with a more natural induction method of just having waters broken.
• May make labour faster and easier.
• Usage: Starting at 34 weeks, evening primrose oil can be taken orally. It is generally recommended to take two 500mg capsules a day until 38 weeks. At that time usage can be increased to 3-4 capsules per day. An entire capsule can also be inserted vaginally. It is best to do this before bed, so the capsule can dissolve while you sleep. You can also use the oil during perineal massage, and massage it on the cervix as well. Applying the oil directly to the cervix will produce the best results, but the ingredients in evening primrose oil can also be absorbed through the external skin or stomach. Make sure you wear a panty liner to bed!

Perineal Massage

• To help prevent tearing, the perineum should be massaged and stretched out by pulling the thumbs down and out. There are also muscles inside the vaginal wall that should be massaged and kept soft to encourage an easy pushing stage. There are many good instructions on the internet for perineal massage.
• Also to prevent tearing, really up to the midwife, they should be supporting the perineum during crowning, tell you to stop pushing if the baby is coming out too fast, basically the slower the better.

Pain Relief

• If you can manage naturally and avoid the drugs it will be better for you and the baby. The baby will also be more alert.
• Gas and air - very good, doesn’t affect the baby, helps you to relax and concentrate on breathing. Try to hold off as long as possible and save it for the worst part of labour. Some people experience nausea and dizziness from it.
• Pethidine - not so good. May make you feel sick, drugged and out of it and may not actually help with the pain.
• Epidurals – If you ask for an epidural you will need a catheter and a drip. You will be stuck to the bed. Being unable to move or feel things will make it hard to push baby out which means you may need vacuum extraction, forceps or even c/section. Also there are risks associated with the procedure as with any intervention.
• I still think pain relief has its place, if things aren’t going well then get an epidural for sure, but if you can avoid it then that is certainly better.

Natural forms of pain relief

• Read heaps of birth stories online to find out how different women cope with the pain.
• There is a thing called a tens machine, certainly give it a go, some women find it wonderful for early labour.
• Shower and bath are great! They help with relaxation which is very important during labour. Also baths and birthing pools help to support your weight giving more freedom to move. Birthing pools have been called the natural epidural.
• Moving around, walking, bouncing on a fit ball, rocking hips, that sort of thing will help to speed up labour. Good to do during early stages.
• When you first think you might be in labour, sleep and rest as much as you can, gather strength up.
• Once you can no longer sleep, then keep moving. Keep hydrated, sip on powerade or ice cubes. Dehydration means increased pain & decreased ability to cope. (Check with your hospital however, some have rules on eating/drinking during labour.)
• If you go into labour with a posterior baby, stay leaning forward at all times, do not lie down on your back. Keep leaning forward or on all fours until baby rotates.
• Once things get a bit more serious you need to change tactics to relaxing between contractions. If you are stiff and resisting it will be harder for your body to open up. You need to have found something that really works for you for during the serious contractions.
• When the pain in getting really serious, go with the flow, do whatever works, just go with what your body tells you. For instance for me that was sitting in the bath slumped forward with my eyes closed really relaxing between contractions and when they hit I sat bolt up right, broke my hubby’s fingers, inhale breath with gas and air and exhale breath with a birthing wail sound. It distracted me from the pain, and it worked! This was how I managed through transition.
• You will begin to feel some pressure at the front of your pelvic bone, when you feel that you know baby is going down, its almost time.
• When it gets to the stage where you think I can’t bear this anymore, it hurts too much, that’s when you know you are near the end, it’s almost time to push.
• It will feel a bit like you need to do no.2’s, tell the midwife!
• Research different positions that you can birth the baby in. Lying on your back is bad, closes up the pelvis and makes it difficult, like pushing uphill. If you are totally upright baby will come out a lot faster but if nobody supports the head you will probably tear impressively. Many women like birthing on all fours. I birthed Koen in a sitting slightly reclined position and there was a mirror at the end of the bed so I could see, which was an amazing experience.
• Remember, when they say time to push, whenever a contraction comes, PUSH, it eases the pain.
• After bub is born, you get a flood of natural endorphins, pain is all gone and you feel on top of the world! Best feeling ever and very worth it.