Maternity and Pregnancy - Going into Labour

The main signs of going into labour involve the breaking of waters, sometimes a discharge of a small amount of blood, and almost always, the commencement of contractions: a tightening and relaxing of the muscle in your uterus. Contractions open your cervix. This permits your baby to move down your vagina: the birth canal, before his or her arrival in the world. The nearest relative comparison to a contraction is probably a bad period pain. But at least contractions are intermittent. Contractions may commence with twinges of discomfort for a few days before the main contractions commence. Advance warnings of a new arrival sometimes causes aches or pains in the back or thigh regions. Obvious conctractions need to be timed. The time to be calculated is between the start of one and commencement of the next. If not sooner, once the timing between contractions is between 5-7 minutes apart, it is time to contact the hospital or midwife.

At your early stages of pregnancy, try to decide, and then prepare and organise, where it would be best for you to have your baby. There could be few things worse than going into labour without having arranged for your baby's actual arrival.
Babies who are born at home are usually delivered by a midwife. Once you go into labour, the midwife needs to be called immediately. He/she will advise you if it is the appropriate time yet for his/her attendance. Following the birth, the midwife will remain with you for a little while – usually 2 to 3 hours.

Whether your baby is delivered in hospital or at home, - the midwife is likely to be visiting you and your newly born baby - on several occasions following the birth. It’s the midwife’s job to ensure that mother and baby are both progressing nicely – and to give reassurances.

Your doctor will be able to advise you on all the different arrangement procedures that you need to know about– in order for you to make the decisions on which maternity care is right for you.