What is ‘active’ labour or the ‘1st stage of labour’? What are the Calm Mama top tips for the 1st stage of labour?
On the 8th day of Christmas Calm Mama gave to me… 8 hours of 1st stage (active) labour.
On the 6th day we talked early labour. Once early labour ramps up to be classed as ‘established’ labour (see that post for the signs of established labour) you then are in the active or 1st stage of labour. This lasts right up until you are 10cm dilated and ready to push.
On average this stage lasts around 8 hours. All of the coping strategies I listed for early labour will still be very useful to you but depending on your birth place choice, when you are in that birth place more pain relief options will open up to you. We will discuss these in great detail in your hypnobirthing classes.
Here are the Calm Mama top tips for the 1st stage of labour:
-keep hydrated, a dehydrated uterus will not contract as effectively
-keep snacking, food gives us energy and contracting 3 times every 10 minutes requires lots of energy, think of labour as a workout and nourish yourself accordingly!
-breathing techniques! This is where the two breathing techniques you will learn on your Calm Mama hypnobirthing course will really come into their own. Helping to keep you focus and most importantly calm and relaxed.
-stay relaxed, the more tense you are the harder those contracting muscles are going to find it to work! Your relaxation hypnobirthing tracks we talked about yesterday will play a great part in helping you with this safe
-keep upright if possible, gravity is your best friend in labour, let gravity help move your baby downwards!
-know you options. We talk a lot in our classes about writing your birth plan and how the process of writing it requires research research and more research so you know all the available options and the benefits and risks of each of these. Doing this research in pregnancy will help you make calm, informed decision during labour if you need to
-get excited, your baby is coming! You have waited a long time to meet this little person, you are just hours away now, feel the excitement and anticipation
