What is Active Labor

If you don't have an understanding that labor progresses through phases and stAges you would assume that labor is just one process all the way through. This is not the case. In fact active labor is when your doctor or midwife would conSider you to be in a good labor and would have to go to the hospoital or in the event of a home birth your midwife would join you. Good or active labor is usually when you reach or pass the 3 cm mark in dilation.

The thing is that you would not know where you are as far as dilation goes because you would need to be examed by your caregiver. One way to asses active labor is through emotional and physical changes. When active labor sets in you may find the contractions are longer and harder thEn the ones you had been experiencing in early labor. You find that it is harder to walk and talk through contractions as well. My recommendation is if you are ar 3-5 mins apart and your contractions are a good 60 seconds you may want to consider going to the hospital.

What you do physically and how you breath are really important to making sure you keep progressing efficiently and that baby takes proper vertex anterior position and can descent. Sqautting is a good way to help this along but be sure to keep the spine upright, and the hips neutral. You don't want to curve over the baby. Imagine a straight line from your spine to pelvic floor that baby can move down into. Another good pose is lunging to help open the cervix and make room for the baby in the hips. Your breathing should be long and deep. I call it elevator breath. One inhaltion over three seconds and one long exhalations over 3 seconds. This will help you manage the peaks of active contractions and ensure your body is open and not constricting with stress.

For a full active flow for movement and breathing you can read Yoga Birthing from thE website. www.yogabirthmethod.com

What to do when you think your in labor

This question may worry you over 9 months. you have no idea what a contraction feels like or when to expect them to happen. Labor can start in different ways: it may be a long slow start meaning you have slight cramping on and off that doesnt really concern you as serious, it may be sudden and intense, your water might break, or you notice that you are experiencing a regular a regular pattern of contractions that have a pattern when timed.

The key to managing labor is to not panic and elimate stress which could be harmful to you and your baby. Maternal distress in labor has caused medical interventions unnecessarily. Part of eliminating stress is trusting your body and yourself to know what to do during labor to manage pain. If you have a technique such as the yoga birth method then you will feel comfortable with managing longer at home without rushing to the hospital. Walking, stairs, movement and breathing are all positive steps to bringing baby closer to delivery. You want to avoid laying on your babk and holding your breath during contractions. The YBM starts with the early flow for early labor. These postures are done with a steady Ocean sound rythym breathing. This will start you moving and create a meditative environment for calmness. By using the early flow you also encourage the body to keep moving throught labor even when it may become challenging to do so. The sequence of postures help to enhance dilation, effacement and encourages decent of tge baby into the pelvis in normal birth positioning. It's imnportant to maintain a pattern of movement, breathing and focus even when you are inbetween contractions. This will help you come into your next contraction with ease and not feel overcome with pain every few minutes. As labor progresses you will then enter the next phases before pushing which are active and transiton. Transition is usually the shortest stage but can be the most challenging for pain tolerance. Ybm prepares you to go to this stage naturally and through it with ease and calmness.