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Normal childbirth may not be an easy thing to do. But, this is a natural thing. Your body automatically prepares itself for childbirth. Starting from contractions to open the way out of the baby until your baby is born and also the placenta comes out. However, during a normal delivery, you should also try to push the baby out. This may be one of the draining stages of childbirth.
When you give birth normally, there are three stages that you have to go through.
The first stage
This stage begins when you begin to feel contractions to open the way out for the baby. Your body is currently preparing to deliver your baby. This first stage will last until your cervix (cervix) opens by 10 cm. It may take several hours to several days for your cervix to fully open and be ready to deliver the baby. Every pregnant woman has a different time to go through this stage.
Second stage
This is the stage where you have to get your baby out. This stage takes place when you have to push the baby out until the baby is born into the world. When your cervix has opened by 10 cm, it is time for you to push the baby out. At this point, you need to regulate your breathing and know when is the best time to push. Feel your instincts and your body, and focus on the birth of your baby.
For those of you who are giving birth for the first time, this stage of pushing the baby out may last longer, up to 3 hours. However, if you have given birth before and this stage is progressing smoothly, it may take you 20 minutes to 2 hours (at most) for this stage.
Factors affecting the length of time pushing the baby out
How long it takes you to push the baby out depends on a variety of factors. Some of the factors that affect this stage are:
- Experience of giving birth. If this is your first vaginal birth (even if you have previously had a cesarean delivery), it may take longer for you to deliver your baby. Your pelvic muscles that have never been stretched before take longer to stretch. Pregnant women who have previously given birth may only need one or two pushes to be able to give birth to a baby.
- The size and shape of the mother's pelvis. Each woman has a different size and shape of the pelvis. This can then affect the pelvic opening, large or narrow. However, all babies can overcome this.
- Baby size. The size of the baby can be larger or smaller than the cervix (the baby's outlet). However, it seems that the baby's head can adjust to that. Babies have skull bones that are not fixed in a permanent shape. These bones can shift and overlap during labor.
- Position of the baby's head. In normal delivery, the baby's head should be under and ideally the baby's head is facing downward (the mother's coccyx) or what is commonly known as the anterior position. Babies born in the anterior position may only take a little time to be born. Meanwhile, babies with a posterior position (facing upwards) take longer to come out. The mother may have to go through the stage of pushing the baby out for a longer time.
- Mother's strength during childbirth. Such as, how strong the contractions are produced by the mother and how hard the mother forces when pushing the baby out. Strong contractions help the cervix open faster, so the baby can be born faster. The good pushing power and the good influence of other factors may mean that it only takes a mother about an hour or two of encouragement to deliver the baby.
Third phase
The third stage is the stage where your baby has been born successfully, but your body will still contract to expel your baby's placenta. Relax, you don't need as much force at this stage as you need when removing your baby. This process also doesn't take long. You can also get medicinal help to speed up the expulsion of your baby's placenta.
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