Contractions
Last updated
First published
![](https://public-assets.waastly.app/cdn-cgi/image/width=2048,quality=75,format=auto/https://public-assets.waastly.app/724941c5-f789-411a-89d8-e8b9b51dbad8/92b18a34-5e27-4ed4-8401-e4bbca4f8f51/6170809c-9f6d-4fb6-9411-6ee0d35c7ce0.jpg)
Contractions are the epitome of birth, and those who set it all in motion help you push the baby out of the womb. In the birth process, a distinction is made between different contractions.
What are contractions?
When labor begins, you feel it primarily through labor pains. They occur because the uterus makes rhythmic movements using contractions in the muscle fibers. The more muscle fibers in the uterus that contract simultaneously, the stronger the individual will be.
The contractions also hurt because they push the baby's head down towards the pelvic floor.
Brackston Hicks
In the first stage of birth, you get pains, which are uncoordinated because the muscle fibers contract staggered and do so in the lower part of the uterus.
The picking pains give you a bit of pain as they are different in strength. However, it will not be something that affects your baby. They can stand on for a long time and only go into enlargement contractions when the cervix is gone, and you have opened yourself 3 centimeters.
Expansion contractions
The pains turn into pains when they coordinate in strength and regularity. When this happens, the upper part of the uterus contracts, causing the birth to go from being incipient to active. Here you will typically be opened 3 inches.
The contractions will feel much more powerful and painful as the baby's head is pushed further into the pelvis with greater force. The pains can even hurt so much that you can't concentrate on anything else when they are on.
Each woe will last 1-2 minutes, just as there will be shorter breaks between them.
Once you have opened yourself 7-8 centimeters, the dilation pains are at their highest. You feel severe pain for a long time and with fewer breaks.
Pressure contractions
Once you have opened 9-10 centimeters, there is typically a transition in the contractions, where some contractions begin to press against the rectum. These are press veers. It is very different how long it takes between all the contractions to become press contractions and depends on how long it takes for the baby to get down to the pelvic floor.
Pressing contractions give you a feeling of having to go to the toilet and make big because the contractions are sent toward the rectum. The function of the pressure sores is to push the baby out of the womb and can take anywhere from a few minutes to an hour.
Once the head is born, it only takes a single or two contractions to give birth to the rest of the body. The placenta comes within half an hour and is squeezed out in a single woe. However, it is something you will hardly notice as you are entirely open.
Afterbirth
Once the baby and placenta have been born, you get contractions after birth. Their function is to keep the uterus contracted, so there is no excessive bleeding in the area where the placenta has been.