It starts with contractions

It is then nice to find a place where you can relax. Sometimes a warm shower or hot water bottle is also very nice. At some point it really picks up and they are no longer hard bellies, but painful contractions. Then start timing these. When the contractions come every 3-5 minutes for an hour, with one contraction lasting a minute or more, labour has often started. This involves 5 minutes between the start of each contraction, so you will have 3-4 minutes' break in between. At this stage of labour, the contractions cause the cervix to dilate and expand. From the moment there are powerful contractions that also cause dilation, labour has begun. The contractions will become more powerful over time. During a contraction, the baby presses against the opening with its head and the membranes (when they have not yet broken). This is also called the edge of dilation. In this way, dilation will progress further to 10 cm. In any case, with a first child, call us with contractions every 3 minutes, lasting one minute for an hour. With a second or subsequent child, we will make separate arrangements. 

Try to distract yourself for as long as possible. It will probably be several hours before you can start pushing. For a first child, on average, you will dilate at a centimetre per hour. The first 5 centimetres often take longer than the last 5 centimetres. The contractions you have then come every 2-4 minutes and last 60-90 seconds. Therefore, 12-24 hours are indicated for a first birth. Exceptions of course. A subsequent birth often goes a bit faster.

It starts with the breaking of the membranes

About in 10% of deliveries, it starts with the waters breaking. If you think your waters have broken, put on white pants without panty liners or bandages. This will allow you to see the colour of the amniotic fluid better. If you see yellow, brown or green amniotic fluid, you should call us immediately. This means that the baby has defecated in the amniotic fluid and we will come to your home for a check-up. When the amniotic fluid is a clear or pink colour, we wait calmly until the contractions start. Always call immediately during the day. If your waters break at night, with clear amniotic fluid and the baby's head is well descended (we'll tell you this during the consultation hour), calmly wait until the next morning before calling. We will come to your home that morning for a check-up and to discuss options. If your waters break during the night and the amniotic fluid is yellow, green or brown, you should call immediately.

Catching contractions

During labour, it is good to catch the contractions in different positions. This way, the baby is given more room to descend further into the birth canal. During contractions, keep breathing calmly: breathe in through your nose and out slowly through your mouth. If you have taken a pregnancy class, use these tips too and see what you feel most comfortable with at the time.

There are several positions and places you could try out.

Give it a go! In any case, we recommend not staying in bed all the time. That is also often a very awkward position to cope well with contractions.

Pushing

When you are 10 cm dilated, you are fully dilated. This means that the baby can now pass. Often you will also have contractions that push the baby down very hard, it is a real reflex that you can hardly stop. It feels like you have to defecate. These contractions help you push the baby out. The duration of pushing varies enormously from person to person and also depends a lot on whether it is your first baby, or whether you have already had one.

There are also different positions you can adopt when pressing. Lying on your back is the position we are most familiar with, but it doesn't actually make much sense at all. In other positions, your pelvis is just a bit wider. We always try to help you find a posture that works best for you. For example:

When the baby is born

When the baby is born, he or she comes to lie on your bare chest. If everything goes well with both of you, the baby stays with you. We dry the baby on your chest and put warm cloths over him or her.

The baby eventually opens its eyes and gets acquainted, an important moment of bonding between mother and child. Over time, the baby also starts making searching movements. He/she opens the mouth and smacks. This means he/she is ready to go to the breast. Give the baby some time to smell and sniff. We or the maternity nurse will help with breastfeeding. If you are not breastfeeding, just keep the baby with you.

After the baby is born, the placenta still has to be born. This often happens quite quickly, but it can also take longer. In the meantime, you can just start breastfeeding, this actually helps to produce oxytocin, which causes the uterus to contract properly. It limits blood loss and makes the placenta come off faster.

If necessary, you will be stitched up after the birth. We can almost always do this ourselves. We usually do this while you are feeding the baby or have the baby with you.

After the baby has finished drinking, we check him/her. We check if everything is in place, the reflexes are working and we weigh the baby. We don't measure anymore. This requires stretching the baby's legs, which is a very unnatural position for the baby and not good for the hips.

When you have eaten and drunk and are feeling well, you can take a shower. The maternity nurse will help you with this. It is then also important to try to urinate. Often everything burns underneath and it is most pleasant to pee in the shower. For the times after, you can rinse while urinating with a bottle of water with a sports cap, for example.

If you gave birth in hospital, you may go home after showering. If you gave birth at home, you'll crawl back into a clean bed and rest.