Vaginal Childbirth (Birth) Animation

Stages of Labour

Labour is divided into three stages - the dilation of the cervix, the delivery of the baby, and the delivery of the placenta.

First Stage- Dialation of Cervix

The first stage has 3 phases:

Initial (latent) Phase- This stage is the longest and the least painful part of labour. The cevix thins and dialates to about 4 cm. The contractions intervals from 5-20 minutes and lasts from 30-60 seconds.
Active Phase- The contractions tend to occur around 2 or 4 minutes apart and last up to a minute or so. The cervix dilates from 4 -10cm.
Transition Phase- This is the phase that takes you from first to second stage of labour.contractions are running into each other. You 'll feel pressure in your bottom due to the baby's head moving down the birth canal.

Second Stage - Delivery of the baby

For the first baby this stage lasts between half to one hour, however for second and subsequent pregnancies it sometimes takes only few minutes. When the baby's head touches the pelvic floor muscles it triggers a reflex known as Ferguson's reflex which, creates the uncontrollable urge to push.Once the head has emerged, the delivery staff will turn the body to deliver the shoulders. The rest of the baby will then slip out.

Third Stage - Delivery of the placenta

The delivery of placenta usually happen five to 30 minutes later. It only takes few minutes for uterus to gently contract and push out the placenta.