Private Antenatal and Delivery Care
Preparing for Labour Labour can begin at any stage of pregnancy. However, the majority of cases do not start until after the 37th week or three weeks before your due date. Is it normal to get lots of pains in the womb? Yes, leading up to labour it is very common for the uterus to start contracting. It is almost like a marathon runner training for the big day! These painless contractions can become discomforting in the late stages of pregnancy. How will I know when I am in labour? When the pains start occurring every 10 minutes or if you have some bleeding or a show or your waters break and lots of fluid comes out of the vagina then you need to call the practice. You can then speak to a midwife who will listen to your story and advise you on what to do. If you have any difficulties finding a midwife to speak to then please call us on our mobile phones. What can I do to try and help myself go into labour? Unfortunately, there is very little you can do which can encourage the onset of labour. However, some natural proven methods include breast stimulation and membrane sweeping. Reflexology is also reported, though not confirmed with exact science, to help labour start. What is breast stimulation? This is where the breast is stimulated for about 3 hours a day. You can use a breast pump to perform this task. We know from some studies that if you do this every day for 3 days you have a 1 in 3 chance of labouring within a week of starting the stimulation. What is sweeping the membranes? Sweeping the membranes is an old method for bringing on labour. It is thought that sweeping increases the levels of naturally occurring hormones called prostaglandins around the cervix (neck of the womb). This causes the cervix to soften and dilate. This is the beginning of the process of labour. This is easier to perform if you already have had one baby before as the neck of your womb is already slightly open to allow a finger to be passed through. If this is your first baby, sweeping may not be as effective as your neck of the womb is still shut tight. How is sweeping performed? Sweeping is performed during a vaginal examination. A finger is placed through the neck of the womb into the lower part of the womb. The finger is then rotated around for about 10 to 20 seconds causing the membranes around the baby to be separated from the womb. Is the sweeping uncomfortable? The procedure is uncomfortable but the majority of women find it acceptable and when questioned about it would undergo the procedure again if need be. However, you donot need to have it performed and if you are finding sweeping uncomfortable we would obviously stop. How often should you have the sweeping performed? Some studies looking at this question found that if you have sweeping performed every 3 days from 38 to 39 weeks, very few patients will go past 41 weeks of pregnancy. Put another way, you have a 15% chance of naturally going over a week past your dates. Performing the sweep will reduce this chance to about 2% or less. Furthermore, about a half of all women will have delivered within a week of having the membranes swept compared to only one quarter of women delivering who did not have their membranes swept. Who will do the sweeping for me? Our midwife or Chris or Mike – it is your choice. What else may happen after sweeping? After sweeping most women have some uterine contractions and a few will have some vaginal spotting of blood. This is not the baby's blood but is from some of the blood vessels around the neck of the womb. The mucus plug may well come away after sweeping in the day or so after the event. This is a normal occurrence. It doesnot however mean that you will necessarily go into labour immediately after but is an encouraging sign. Is the sweeping dangerous? Sweeping can increase vaginal bleeding rates but this has not been a major problem for the baby or mother. When should I be able to tell if I am in labour? The same conditions as outlined above for the normal onset of labour can be followed. What happens if I do not go into labour after my due date? Most women donot labour before or on their due date. This is not a problem as there is no risk to the baby's health for a period of time after your due date. I have heard that the longer you leave a pregnancy go past the due date the more chance there is of harm to the baby. Is this true? The chances of your baby becoming unexpectedly sick are extremely low after your due date. Because of the monitoring of the fluid around the baby and the baby's heartbeat we will be performing, the chance of anything going wrong is less than 1 in 5000. When would you suggest I have the labour started?This is a difficult question but it would appear that after 42 weeks, the risk for the pregnancy not having a good outcome for the baby is slightly increased but is still less than 1 in 1000 as long as all the monitoring tests are normal. We donot specifically say when you should have the labour started but leave it up to a discussion with you during the pregnancy. How would you start the labour? After a period of sweeping most women only need to have their membranes ruptured to start the process of labour.