Just heard another one of the crew is in early labour and wondering how to get things moving along. Its great to keep active and upright to keep the oxytocin flowing but you need to be sure not to tire yourself out too early. Relaxing is just as important to keep the adrenaline levels low and the endorphines high. A walk around the park can be very helpful but this is not the time to climb a hill! Labour can take some time to establish and although it might seem those early hours are not achieving anything they are often helping to soften and shorten the cervix so that it can dialate more easily. The best thing you can do is carry on as normal, eat, drink and sleep when you normally would and wait for nature to take its course.  Try not to stress too much if your waters go and you don't start contracting straight away or even within a few hours, this is not unusual and the contractions will often start just when you had given up hope :-) The national guidelines for the length of time you can have ruptured membranes and not be in active labour are 24 hours but most women start within this timeframe. If you still don't go into labour you will be advised to be induced in hospital due to a small increased risk of infection reaching your baby. |
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