If you asked me “what is the one thing I should know about labour?” I would probably sit down with a brew and tell you all about the phase that we call ‘early labour’.

OK, the actual truth is my birth worker brain would fire on all cylinders, not be able to pick just 1 thing and I’d finally stop chatting 3 days later……but, seriously, knowing about early labour can be a total game changer when it comes to feeling prepared and having manageable expectations. It’s what I make sure I spend time exploring in hypnobirthing courses/antenatal sessions and is one of the first episodes me and my gorgeous pal Leanne at Birthhood have chosen to record for our podcast!

What is early labour?

Huge caveat: labour is an organic, fluid process with no clear boundaries between 1 ‘stage’ and another. I love how Rachel Reed puts it, that you’re in labour right the way from conception as it takes a whole pregnancy of changes to eventually lead to your birth.

However, the control freaks among us would quite like to understand a bit of step by step chronology, however loose it is, to have some knowledge of what to expect.

So…

Early labour is the part when your body is gearing up and getting ready for active/established labour (that’s the bit where regular and intensifying contractions alter the muscle fibres in your uterine walls, to build power for eventual birth, and create the space we know as a dilated cervix).

Early labour is often referred to as the latent phase and is the part when your cervix is ripening and going through subtle changes which have to happen before active labour can build.

Your cervix is not a one trick pony. Dilation isn’t its only talent! Your cervix will:

• Soften from feeling firm like the end of your nose, to feeling soft and squidgy like your ear lobe or lip.
• Thin (or efface) from around 3cm thick to paper thin.
• Move position from posterior (tilted towards your bottom), becoming more central and then anterior (tilted forward).
• Open (or dilate) from closed, to open to the diameter of your baby’s head (which may or not be 10cm!).

 

How will I know I am in early labour?

You might not. You may wake up in the night having regular contractions and already be in a more advanced point in labour having had no other signs at all. You may only recognise early signs when you look back with hindsight.

You may experience some or all of a range of signs that can indicate the body is getting ready for labour and birth:

• Loose bowel movements (your digestive system is less prioritised and hormone fluctuations cause a clearing out of your bowels in readiness for birth, this could also be creating space for baby’s descent)
• Cramping (some people compare it to period cramps and they are a bit like pre-cursors to contractions as your muscles tighten ready for labour)
• Highly fluid discharge (this is normal and can increase in late pregnancy, it is easily mistaken for waters breaking)
• Increased intensity or frequency of Braxton Hicks tightenings
• Loss of your mucus plug (in large lumps or smaller pieces coming away)

• A show/bloody show characterised by pinkish/pinkish brown staining to discharge or mucus, or some spotting

• Feeling ‘different’, increased nesting and the need to withdraw (hormonal shifts lead to the intuitive need to ‘sort’ the birth environment and retreat from social contact)
• Tightenings/contractions that don’t build to established labour or that are stop/start in pattern (irregular contractions are normal and not a sign your body isn’t capable of progressing)

 

The rollercoaster of early labour

Imagine this.

It’s early evening. Sun starts to set, the sky darkens. The rushing of the day slows and you start to switch off a bit. Your phone isn’t ringing, delivery drivers aren’t knocking, the streets outside are quiet. You begin to feel less disturbed. Your body detects that you feel safe, that predators have retreated, and starts to allow things to shift and change. Adrenaline slows and oxytocin rises. You get some subtle signs, perhaps feels cramps, maybe even mild contractions start. You’re excited, these feelings remain and you’re hopeful tonight is the night.

But for whatever reason, established labour doesn’t firmly kick in, or it slows and fades as the night passes. Morning comes. The busy tasks of day begin. The world around you wakes and you feel more disturbed, more alert and more rushed. The stresses of day to day life bring a little too much adrenaline, predators are out, oxytocin reduces. Any signs of labour are a memory.

 

Until the evening comes again.

 

This path of stop-start labour is common, normal and totally natural. It’s hormonal, it’s driven by cycles of day and night, being undisturbed vs being surrounded by busy life.

But when you just want labour to build and you just want to meet your baby, it can be very very exhausting!! You are tired from getting less sleep, you struggle to switch off because you’re constantly waiting, you’re emotional and you’re being pestered by everyone to find out how things are going. Yes Karen, baby arrived a month ago and I’m just not telling you!!

 

What do I do in early labour?

• Ignore it, until you can’t. The constant questioning ‘is it, isn’t it?’ doesn’t do you any favours. If it is, you’ll soon know about it. If it isn’t, it isn’t.
• More being, less doing. We’re a species of problem solvers and have an innate need to MAKE THINGS HAPPEN to our own timescale. Good luck with that where labour is concerned! Don’t create a to-do list of activities that might bring labour on or get things going. All you will do is exhaust yourself and get more anxious so you have no physical or mental energy left when you need it later.
• Rest, rest rest. Hydrate, stay fuelled with food you love. If you were going to have a little walk, do it. If you were going to meet a friend for a brew, do it. If you were going to take a bath, do it. But only because you want to.
• Listen to that strong instinct of yours and trust the process, this is part of your story. It will happen when your body and baby are ready.  Observe any signs, accept they are part of natural changes, then go do something else.
• Get yourself in your happy place. Listen to music or audio tracks, practise breathing techniques, surround yourself with love and support.
• Chat to your doula (if you have one…they’re the perfect source of reassurance and confidence)

You’ve got this!!!