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Labor and delivery: Management of the normal first stage

INTRODUCTION
Labor is defined as regular and painful uterine contractions that cause progressive dilation and effacement of the cervix. The World Health Organization (WHO) defined normal birth as "spontaneous in onset, low-risk at the start of labor and remaining so throughout labor and

Pregnancy – labour
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Summary
Read the full fact sheet

Labour is divided into 3 stages – the dilation of the cervix, the birth of the baby and the birth of the placenta.
Some of the signs and symptoms of going into labour may

Stages of Labor
Updated on January 19, 2017
By Iris Dawn Tabangcora, RN
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Nursing care for pregnant women in labor proves to be a challenging task because it requires nurses to be fast in their assessment without sacrificing the quality and accuracy of rendered nursing care. Now, why should care of women in

There's More Than One Reason to Visit Labor and Delivery
Dani Kurtz
Mar 26, 2015
mom and baby milk

The first thing I do when I walk into a patient's room in the Labor and Delivery Department is ask, "What brought you here today?" Some people look at me like I'm crazy because

When You Should Go to the Hospital for Labor
By Robin Elise Weiss, PhD, MPH

Updated on September 13, 2021
Medically reviewed by Rachel Gurevich, RN
How to Know when to go to the hospital for labor

Verywell / Brianna Gilmartin
Table of Contents

True vs. False Labor

Cervical dilation and effacement

Effacement is when the cervix becomes softer and thinner. Dilation is the opening of the cervix. Both dilation and effacement happen during labor, and are necessary to allow your baby to pass through the birth canal. During labor, your cervix dilates from

When to Go to the Hospital for Labor

Let | s hope you have a timer handy because if you | re reading this, you may need to time your contractions, grab your bag, and head to the hospital.

A simple rule for when to go to the hospital for labor is

When You Should Go to the Hospital for Labor


How to Know when to go to the hospital for labor


Table of Contents

True vs. False Labor
Braxton Hicks Contractions
The 411 Rule
When to Go to the Hospital

Prodromal Labor

Prodromal labor is often called “false labor,” and is somewhere in between Braxton Hicks contractions and active labor contractions. Prodromal labor is a part of labor, occurring before active labor but it does not progress toward delivery.
“Prodromal” comes from a Greek word meaning “precursor.” This is a great explanation

Why Is My Cervix Not Dilating? (In the First Stages of Labor)
L. Elizabeth Forry headshot
L. Elizabeth Forry
Updated: April 22, 2022
Our experts explore three reasons for a lack of progression in labor: Cephalopelvic disproportion or CPD (the baby’s head is too large for the mother’s pelvis), inefficient contractions (because the cervix