Understanding Normal Labor Pain

Normal labor consists of a series of progressive contractions of the uterus that cause dilatation of the cervix. Your body is getting ready for the delivery of your baby and therefore, this is a process that although unexplained, it is creating the passage that will allow your baby to come into the world.

A normal labor will start within the range of two weeks before or after the due date of delivery. It is very important to be aware of the exact delivery date and it is also very important to be prepared for the event, especially if you are a person that lives alone or that is alone at your home most of the time. When the labor pain beginnings, you may not be in the condition to drive yourself to the hospital. You will need to have a plan based on the possibilities, which will help you cope with many aspects of delivery and safety as well.

The first stage of the labor will take approximately 18 to 20 hours and you need to be ready for the process. You will need to be very strong physically and if you have not been feeling well, you may want to consult your doctor around the time of delivery to get a proper check up done to make sure that everything is running as per schedule. Of course, once your delivery date is approaching, your doctor would like to see you more regularly and he will be trying to monitor your progress to make sure that everything is very much under control.

Once you start to have the contractions related to the first stage of Labor, then it is up to you to make sure that you are aware of the procedure and that you are aware that this is not something that is going to happen very fast also. You will have enough time to go to the hospital and get examined before you are ready to deliver. It is not usual in a normal delivery for the first stage to happen very fast, and unless you were totally unaware of the process, you are not going to be delivering anytime soon.

However, once you are progressing into the first stage and the cervix begins to expand and contract much more, then the muscular pain due to the contractions can be very excruciating. You will need to be fully monitored for your health condition, which will include your blood pressure and heart rate and the heart rate of your child will also need to be monitored on constant basis.

Since this is a very time taking procedure, you may want to try to speed up the process by trying to bear down, however, this is not recommended as you may damage your cervix in the process or you may waste a lot of energy when you are not ready to give birth yet, and this will create complications because you are too tired when you need the energy.