Every woman is different and may not show any of the following it does not mean she’s not in labour.
‘Optimum’ position i.e. Occiput Anterior (OA) which means their chins are firmly tucked into their chests and they are on their mother’s left side with their spines slightly angled towards the mother’s front. Occiput Posterior babies (OP) i.e. those which have their backs to their mother’s backs and the head is often de-flexed, have different methods of getting through the pelvis. Have you mapped your baby?
Mother’s with OP babies may have very intense contractions from the beginning with little or no dilation, they can experience early transitions (self-doubt) and may feel the need to start pushing early. In these circumstances, it is even more important that these mothers are encouraged to listen to their bodies and adopt positions that feel right for them, and in many ways, disregard the conventional forms of assessing labour progress because they often don’t apply.
So, some of these you may want to share with your birth supporters, or some of you may just want to inform your own learning.
- Sounds of Birth
- Smell
- Another show
- The purple line
- Physical Make-up
- Height of the fundus
Sounds of birth
Definite ‘birth’ noises that accompany the different stages of birth.
- Early labour (Excitement) the mother will be able to chat as normal;
- Established labour (Serious) she is going to find it more difficult to talk and there will be a few noises – as in focusing on the out breath;
- nearing the end of the first stage as she gets closer to Transition (Self-doubt) the noises will be loud humming and groaning.
- When she starts to push, it is often accompanied by grunting noises. However, some women are very quiet, and often those that are ‘hypnobirthing’ make no or very little noise so don’t rely on this method alone to assess progress.
Smell
There is a certain smell that is emitted as a woman gets nearer to birth. It is incredibly difficult to describe but it is ‘earthy’, ‘powerful’, ‘musky’. It’s one of those things you need to smell a couple of times before you think – ‘Ah, now I know what she’s talking about.’
Another show
Regardless of whether a woman had a ‘show’ at the start of her labour, the act of giving birth does involve copious amounts of bodily fluid – blood and mucous being very likely. They are often released during contractions when the mother is around 6 – 8 cm. This is often the time the waters will go and if they broke earlier, there is often another gush at this point.
The purple line
I have seen this a few times depends on the position the mum is in and the colour of her skin.
The purple line starts just above the anus and grows up the natal cleft (or bottom crack) as labour advances, a bit like the mercury in a thermometer.
The length of the line is equivalent to how many cm the cervix is dilated!
Aren’t we amazing
Physical make-up
Physical occurrences that can indicate a woman is 6cm or beyond.
- Involuntarily curling her toes during contractions, even when the rest of her body is totally relaxed.
- If standing she may stand on her toes whilst leaning over something.
- Goose bumps may appear on her bottom or upper thighs.
Height of the fundus
When the uterus contracts it moves upwards and pulls the cervix upwards with it which is what causes the dilation.
At around 40 weeks of pregnancy, it should be possible to get 5 finger widths between the top of the bump and the very bottom of the breastbone – kind of that upside down ‘V’ between your ribs. As the mother dilates, that space between the two points is going to lessen until the cervix is fully dilated and it is no longer possible to get any fingers in between the two points.
However, this method is much more relevant to women who have had previous babies and, unfortunately, the measurement has to be taken at the peak of the contraction when the mother is lying flat on her back.
This summary sheet will be really helpful for your birth partner(s)
Updated Partners handout copy
