How to Manage Early Labour

What is early labour?

As the body morphs from pregnancy through to labour and birth, your body and baby will need to do a great many things along the way. The early stage of labour is often dismissed as ‘not labour’ but it is all part and parcel of your journey to meeting your baby. You’ll be able to recognise it when you experience sporadic contractions/surges, waters may release, body temperature may fluctuate, mood may be different, you may just ‘feel’ an inner knowing that this is different. 

During early labour, the contractions of uterus are working hard to do four major things: 

1. Draw up a layer of muscle fibres from around the uterus in order to build a muscle at the top which will act as a piston when the baby is ready to be born.

2. Reposition the cervix so that it’s at a better angle for the baby to descend through the pelvis. 

3. Thin and dilate the cervix so that the baby can journey out of the womb and into the birth canal.

4. Work with the baby to position it in an optimal position to navigate their route skin side. 

For some birthing people this stage can last days, or hours or minutes. Sometimes you can be very aware that you’re in this stage and sometimes you can have no clue. But your body is working hard, nudging you closer and closer down your birthing path!

What affects early labour?

It’s not too clear what determines how long early labour might be but what we do know is that the following things make a difference:

1. Sense of safety/readiness/comfort/love vs fear factor/worries/anxiety/stress

2. Environment (this affects sense of safety and calm)

3. Hormone levels (affected by emotional states listed in 1.)

4. Baby position

What should I do in early labour?

So how can you ensure that this part of your labour flows in the best way your body needs it to. 

1. A lot of the things on the above list are best tackled during your birth preparation. Exploring your feelings around birth and parenthood is so important. And through doing this you can discover your own strategies for banishing fear and promoting self confidence. Use some of those strategies if you need to. 

2. Environment - where ever you are make sure it’s somewhere you feel safe or change it accordingly. If you couldn’t be romantically woo’d in the space then it won’t be conducive to labour either (I’m not talking about the steamy quickie you once had in an elevator.)

3. Expectation - know that this can take a while. It can be frustrating or demoralising. Understand why it takes a while and appreciate the incredible work your body is doing. Your partner also really needs to know that this can be a pretty boring spectator sport and that a watched kettle won’t boil. Trust the process and relax. 

4. Listen to your body - what do you feel you need? A nap? Take one. A hearty meal? Eat one. A bath? A massage? A funny film? A walk in nature? Cuddles? A dance? You can do all these things in early labour and go for it, do whatever feels right and feels good!

5. Fuel yourself - eat, drink, breathe, nap. Definitely nap. Even 20 mins here or there will make the world of difference. Think about the long game. 

6. Comfort - as things progress you may want some comfort measured to take the edge off the intensity. Massage, water (shower/bath), hot water bottle, movement, breathing, self-hypnosis will all support your brain and body’s ability to manage the sensations of labour.

7. Protect your mindset - placing too much emphasis and focus on this part of your labour can be psychologically exhausting.  You can distract yourself by nesting, knocking off the last few things on your todo list, doing something creative, baking, cooking etc.

8. Stay at home - this is the home part of your labour and for many people, the longest part. If you choose to transfer in, wait as long as possible, so your surges are 4 in 10 minutes consistently or you feel you’re in ‘active’ labour.

It’s hard to know beforehand how long your early labour will be or how you will spend it. Hopefully you now have some strategies to manage this time and maximise your body’s ability to do the work to bring your baby to you.

You’ve got this!

If any of this resonates with you, get in touch or visit my Doula page to find out more about working with me.

A Healing Home Birth Story

This beautiful story is about a second healing birth, sunshine after clouds and trusting in oneself.
Thank you so much to this very special family for sharing their story. 
Marin, born at home. Welcome to the world sunshine girl.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was a Friday night and we were heading for bed. I had a feeling things were going to get started - I'd spent a couple of weeks feeling my body and baby shifting into position. On this night, there was a dull ache in my lower back and it felt...different. 

I woke at about 3am and could feel very gentle surge sensations beginning in my lower back . I told Tim and we agreed to get some sleep and wake our son in the morning; he was in bed with us that night and I vividly remember his little arms around my neck while I was breathing through some gentle surges - his love and warmth really got my oxytocin flowing.

At 6am I woke my husband and told him I was ready crack on! He took our son to my Mum's  while I ran a warm bath... my happy place. I had spent a lot of time relaxing and listening to my hypnobirthing MP3s in this bath and I instantly felt relaxed. I had a couple of surges in the bath and enjoyed breathing through them. Tim set up the birth pool downstairs while I pottered about in our bedroom and tuned in to the building sensations. It was very cool to experiment with how I could make the surges feel stronger by staying upright and forward - if I lay down I could feel them softening. There was a moment when I remember thinking, 'right, let's get this show on the road, no lying down now!'

I instinctively felt the need to be in the garden for a while - it was summer time and the birds were singing. A little robin sat on the fence next to me through a few surges. Back in the house I continued to experiment with positions and found that kneeling over the birth ball was great, and pushing against the wall in a standing position was effective too. Tim did the hip squeeze for me through every surge which gave me such relief in my lower back where an immense pressure was building. 

Our Midwife Rosie arrived, took a little look at me from a distance and went into the next room to set up her paperwork. She was a close family friend and it felt good when she arrived in our birth space - she brought complete trust in me and my body, and we were comforted by her presence. I had written into my birth preferences that I didn't want routine vaginal examinations and she was completely respectful of this, so I was just left to get on with things.

I decided now was the time I needed to shift a gear and wanted to be in the pool. The relief as I got in was out of this world. I felt absolutely in my element and the feeling of being weightless and cocooned by the warm water was next level! No more hip squeezes required, Tim was now sitting next to me, totally present and watching for any signs of tension. He knew I wanted to keep my jaw and hands completely relaxed.

The surges were building in strength and now it was taking all my focus and attention to ride the waves, which were long and powerful, but completely manageable with the amazing hypnobirthing breath work we had learned. 

At one point I said to Tim, 'I don't think I can keep this up all day'... he put his hand on my shoulder, looked me in the eye and said, 'that means she's nearly here'. He remembered that it's very common for women to feel a moment of self doubt when they are very close to birthing their baby. And he was right!

On the next big surge her head was out and a second surge followed what felt like straight after and the rest of her body was born at 11.45am. I was totally stunned by this foetal ejection reflex - I didn't try to push at all, my body just did it! I had read about this, but still expected to need to do some form of proactive 'pushing'. Tim had caught Marin underwater, but my mind was still somewhere else and I couldn't physically turn around to pick her up for what felt like ages! I needed a moment to come back into the room. Now I know this is called the 'birth pause' and I love watching videos of birthing women suspended in this moment in time. 

When Tim handed Marin to me she started pinking up really quickly, but didn't make a sound. It was as if she hadn't realised she had been born. We stayed together in the water wrapped in a towel and we couldn't take our eyes off her. I find it very hard to put in to words the feeling of love I had for her in those moments. 

We got out of the pool and onto the sofa and breastfeeding began. We sat there together for an hour, completely undisturbed except to birth the placenta, which was uneventful. Marin was still attached to her placenta and Rosie explained that this was an intact birth. Wow! How amazing to see this. Tim felt the cord and when he couldn't feel it pulsate any more he cut it under Rosie's guidance. 

Our Midwife was incredible... I have very vague recollections of her listening in to baby's heartbeat, but other than that she was completely hands off. Just her presence in the house, albeit in the room nextdoor and sometimes standing nearby, was so incredibly calming and comforting. As a close family friend I know it helped having someone familiar in my birth space. 

I had a third degree tear with my first born, and so I was keen to know from Rosie whether I would need to be transferred to the hospital after this birth. I did need some stitches, but Rosie could do them at home while I lay on the sofa cuddling Marin. After that I had a shower and we all went to bed. Rosie tucked us in together and we spent the afternoon having skin to skin.

This birth was almost exactly as I had spent all my time imagining it to be, although it all happened in the day and I had pictured it being at night. I don't think I truly understood just what the hypnobirthing practice had done for me until after the birth, when I realised I had absolutely zero fear of the process and a complete trust in my body and baby to know how to be born.  Our confidence rolled on into the weeks after birth where Tim and I both felt so empowered to parent Marin in the way that felt right for us and her. It was a pretty magic time and we feel so very lucky to have this positive birth story to tell. 

We can't thank you enough for helping us unlock our power as a birthing team and for instilling such confidence in the birthing process within us. It was a gift of the highest order!

Love, Heather and Tim Xxx

Doula in your pocket

I am really excited to announce that I will be offering all my usual wonderful support over the glorious internet! You can now beam me in to your living room, snuggle up on your own sofa and receive the same face to face bespoke course/sessions as if you were in one of my teaching rooms.

No pre-recordings, no generic info.

Lots of discussions, Q&As, demos, bespoke content.

You’re social distancing or self-isolating, but:

Gloriously and happily, tiny humans are still growing and being born. Parents still need wisdom, relaxation and a bunch of brilliant tools for labour and birth. 

The solution:

I am offering FREE 30min consultations over the phone for anyone so that you can work out what your options are, and what is best for you for your birth preparation.

All Birthing Programme - Hypnobirthing, courses (March/April group and Private courses over March and April) will be conducted over computer screens using Zoom.

All other bespoke antenatal prep sessions for the immediate future will also conducted over computer screens using Zoom.

How does it work: 

All you need to do is to download Zoom onto your computer for free (this is a bit like skype). I will then send you a link to our class and when you load it up on the 21st, you will see myself and your class mates. We will all be able to hear and see each other. We can have discussions, ask questions, show demos, I can screen share any videos with you and I can send you files etc. All as if we were in a room together. It may feel a little strange at first, but once we all relax into it, my hope is that you will discover that it's actually a really great way to attend a course. 

For those on the Birthing Programme - Hypnobirthing, I will also post you your work book so that you have your course materials.

Downsides: 

No hugs...I'm a hugger. 

Benefits: 

No travel time for you. 

You can snuggle up on your own sofa with your own favourite coffee blend. 

You don't even have to get out of your jammies (total #win).

You don’t have to be local to me…open to everyone in the UK!

You'll be safe from COVID-19. 

Being flexible:

Each week we'll take stock of the current situation. When things change and become a little safer for everyone, then we can reassess and decide to meet in real life or continue over Zoom.

And to just soften the transition to online teaching I am offering 10% off all my birth preparation courses and sessions for the remainder of March.

If this all sounds like an adventure (that you can have in your pyjamas!) and would like to continue to book your course or antenatal session with me then do get in touch.

Doula love,

Siobhán x