During pregnancy, especially during the last trimester, many women ask themselves: "How will I know when it is time to give birth?", "When will be the right time to go to the hospital?" push me to alert or even alarm? ".
Starting once again from the assumption that pregnancy and childbirth are, in general, absolutely physiological conditions and that - as the news itself reminds us almost daily - every woman possesses within herself all the resources and skills necessary to "make it" brilliantly alone, there is no doubt that the knowledge and awareness of the times, mechanisms and sensations of labor can help the expectant mother to live and manage all the decisive stages of birth with greater tranquility and control.
In this regard, there are some schematic, but effective, classifications that can be referred to. Usually a "prodromal period or latent phase" and a "dilating period" are first distinguished.
The prodromal period represents in some way the border area, the crossing point, between the before and after. Between pregnancy, as it has been known and lived up to that moment, and the real active labor that will concretely lead to the birth of the new baby.
In the prodromal period, which especially in a woman in the first birth can have an extremely variable duration, sometimes even more than 24 hours, the contractions will initially still be short and irregular, and then gradually acquire greater rhythm and coordination. they will verify the smoothing and disappearance of the uterine neck (also in this case with some differences in timing and sequence between women at the first birth and women who have already had other children). The pain will progressively begin to be perceived in an increasingly recognizable way, especially in the abdominal and lumbo-sacral level, but the pauses will still be long and prevalent.
At this stage, however, if the amniotic sac is still intact, it will certainly be premature to rush to the hospital. In physiological conditions it will be preferable to spend these moments in the warmth, serenity and freedom offered by your home environment.
Physically, hormonally and emotionally, mother and baby prepare themselves for the actual birth. The woman is anxious, excited and aware that "the time is almost here". Two conflicting feelings often coexist in her: on the one hand, the desire and the need to end the pregnancy, giving birth to her own child; on the other hand, the so-called "separation anxiety", that is the "restlessness aroused by the inevitable detachment from an intimate part of oneself. A new life that up to that moment has grown in one's body but which will soon acquire its own autonomous identity The real child is about to meet the so-called "imaginary child" dreamed up to that moment.
In the mother, among other things, the so-called "nesting instinct" will also be present for a few weeks. The need, that is, that everything is in place, ready, arranged. The need to have everything under control. The need to guarantee one's own son the "best possible birth".
The woman also gradually gets in touch with the pain, she begins to experience her own body and her emotions in front of this new context. She is still alert and receptive, even during contractions. However, he warns the contact with the unborn child who in turn will have changed his attitude in utero and will go through the so-called stages of "reduction" and "commitment", adapting the diameters of his part presented (generally the head) to those of the maternal pelvic inlet. The mother's body in turn continues to transform and prepare. Prostaglandins, for example, stimulate contractions and soften the cervix. Prostaglandins which, among other things, are also present in man's sperm.
Unfortunately, the last thing most couples think about at this stage is having intimate relationships. Perhaps preferring to rush to the hospital and rely on the technical skills and standard protocols of healthcare professionals. Yet the natural benefits that sexuality can produce in labor would be enormous. A relationship, for example, can contribute with various mechanisms to free endorphins and oxytocin, in addition to the aforementioned prostaglandins, indispensable factors for the success of labor and delivery. Why then be administered aseptically some of these substances, perhaps with infusion and invasive maneuvers, by the gynecologist or by the obstetrician, when is it possible to recover all the necessary resources within oneself? And this simply through some private moments of pleasure and affection with your partner.
As for the rest of pregnancy, the evolution of this phase will in any case be profoundly conditioned by the specific characteristics of the woman in question. From her age, her character, her background, her expectations, the type of emotional support on which she can counting, etc. Every woman is different from the others as is every personal experience of motherhood.
What everyone experiences at this stage, however, is the so-called loss of the mucous plug. As the name itself explains, it is a plug essentially composed of dense and whitish mucus that is normally found inside the cervix to protect the uterus from the penetration of bacteria and (except in the days of ovulation) spermatozoa.
The changes in the neck of the uterus that occur in the vicinity of childbirth mechanically cause the loss of this plug (often mixed with blood, the woman is said to "mark" for the first time) and tangibly indicate to the woman that labor actual active is approaching The dilation period is approaching.
The contractions now become more intense, prolonged, frequent and regular. The neck, now flattened, begins to dilate significantly. A little at a time from the initial two centimeters we will arrive at ten centimeters of complete dilation. The same dilation period, however, is in turn divided into different passages and moments which overall - especially at the first birth - can last from about four to eight hours.
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