Most pregnant women spend some time wondering when they will go into labor, especially as the due date draws near. When the opening of the cervix starts to widen, this is called dilation, and it is one sign that labor is approaching. Dilation is typically measured in centimeters cm. During active labor, the cervix fully dilates to 10 cm.
In this article, we look at what dilation is and what dilating to 1 cm signals. We also describe other signs that labor may start soon. The cervix is a narrow passage that connects the uterus and the vagina. During active labor, the cervix will dilate until it reaches 10 cm. During menstruation, the cervical opening allows the lining of the uterus to exit. During pregnancy, hormones cause the mucus in the cervix to thicken, fill the opening, and form what the medical community calls a mucus plug to protect the fetus.
This plug is in place for most of the pregnancy. However, in the third trimester, the cervix will begin to soften and thin, in a process called effacement.
The cervical opening also begins to widen, or dilate. A healthcare provider usually assesses the extent of dilation and effacement during routine visits. It is not uncommon for a doctor to consider 1 cm of dilation a sign of prelabor. One woman may go from having a closed cervix to giving birth in a matter of hours, while another is 1—2 cm dilated for days or weeks. Some women do not experience any dilation until they go into active labor. This means that the cervix is completely closed initially, but it widens to 10 cm as labor progresses.
It is especially common in first pregnancies. For other women, especially those who have given birth before, dilation may start a few days or weeks before labor begins.
Dilation alone is not considered a sign of labor. That's because the baby is at risk of developing an infection in the uterus once the protective fluid is gone. Doctors also advise that women not have sex after their water breaks to avoid introducing any bacteria into the uterus. Your practitioner will want you to have your baby within a day or two after your water breaks.
If you are close to your due date, your water breaks, and you don't go into labor on your own within a relatively short period of time, you will need to have labor induced. If your labor doesn't begin within a specific time period, your physician may want to bring on induce labor. How long your health practitioner is comfortable waiting before inducing will depend on your individual situation.
Be sure to tell your health care team if your "water" isn't clear. If your amniotic fluid is greenish in color or smells bad, it could signal either an infection or meconium essentially baby feces , either of which could cause problems for your baby. Also, if you're leaking liquid but aren't sure whether it's amniotic fluid or urine some pregnant women leak urine at the tail end of their pregnancies , you should have it checked by your health practitioner so you know what you're dealing with.
Contractions are strong, rhythmic, regular cramps that feel like a bad backache or extreme menstrual pain. These little doozies, if they're the real thing, are the most reliable of all the signs and officially mark the onset of labor. A contraction occurs when your uterus tightens and then relaxes. Real contractions usually start in the back of your body and move toward the front. These movements open the cervix and help push the baby into the birth canal.
True contractions come closer and closer together in a predictable pattern and last around 30 to 70 seconds each. They get steadily stronger and keep coming, regardless of what you do. You and your health practitioner should come up with a game plan ahead of time about when you should call and what you should do if you suspect you're in labor.
Most practitioners will probably tell you to call when you have contractions that last for around one minute and occur every five minutes for about an hour, but this could vary greatly depending on your health history and past pregnancy record. Women who have given birth before may have a quicker labor the second or third time around, so it's important not to wait too long to call if you think things might go quickly.
Be sure to discuss this with your doctor or midwife. To time the frequency of contractions, start at the beginning of one and count until the beginning of the next one. Beginning in your ninth month of pregnancy, your practitioner will look for clues that labor is getting closer, palpating your abdomen and giving you an internal exam to check your cervix.
In addition to seeing if baby's dropped , she's confirming whether your cervix has dilated and effaced and if it's begun to soften and move toward the front of the vagina — another indication that labor is getting closer. Keep in mind, it's not a problem if your baby hasn't dropped just yet; a vaginal delivery is still definitely possible. Based on these factors, she'll likely make an educated guess as to when you'll deliver.
But don't go racing to the hospital just yet if that guess is "soon. As the cervix continues to thin and open, the "cork" of mucus that seals the opening of the cervix , otherwise known as the mucous plug, becomes dislodged. You may or may not notice it happen, and it can occur anywhere from a couple of weeks to hours before labor starts.
Then, a few days to 24 hours before delivery day, you'll notice bloody show as the capillaries in your cervix begin to rupture, tinting the vaginal mucus pink or streaking it with blood. When labor contractions get progressively stronger and don't go away even when you change positions, you'll know it's finally show time! Throughout this process, your cervix will keep on effacing and dilating.
In early labor — those days to possibly weeks before it's time to go to the hospital — your cervix will dilate up to 6 cm; by active labor it will increase to about 7 to 8 cm. Full cervical dilation — when your cervix measures 10 cm — occurs at the end of the transitional phase, the last of the three phases of labor. Once this happens, it's time to start pushing your baby out.
Not a thing: Your body is in charge here. This process typically happens during the early stage of labor when your cervix is dilating to 6 cm, and may take several hours or even days. Once your cervix reaches 80 percent effacement, it's almost short enough to allow your baby through the uterus, assuming it is accompanied by dilation. You may reach 80 percent effacement or higher during the early stage of labor, or this may happen once you reach active labor. The same is true for 90 percent and percent effacement.
Either way, effacement and dilation must both happen completely before you can begin pushing. In other words, you must be percent effaced and 10 cm dilated for your baby to pass through the birth canal.
Video: Labor and birth. BabyCenter's editorial team is committed to providing the most helpful and trustworthy pregnancy and parenting information in the world. When creating and updating content, we rely on credible sources: respected health organizations, professional groups of doctors and other experts, and published studies in peer-reviewed journals. We believe you should always know the source of the information you're seeing. Learn more about our editorial and medical review policies.
How to Tell When Labor Begins. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Allina Health. Stages of labor. American Pregnancy Association. First Stage of Labor. Cleveland Clinic.
Mayo Clinic. Stages of labor and birth: Baby, it's time! Signs of labor: Know what to expect. When will labor start if you are 1-centimeter dilated? Am I in labor? National Library of Medicine.
Join now to personalize. Photo credit: iStock. What is dilation?
0コメント