Essay On Early Labor

Early labor phase is time of the onset of labor until the cervix is dilated to 3 cm. active labor is continues of cervix dilation to 7 cm, and transition phase is when cervix is fully dilated to 10cm. Labor is the period during which the contractions occur that eventually expel the fetus and placenta from the uterus. The first stage of labor, often called the dilation stage, begins with the onset of regular uterine contractions and extends until the cervix has dilated to a diameter about the size of the fetus’s head. This stage of labor usually lasts from 8 to 24 hours, but it can be short as a few minutes, in women who have had more than one child. Normally during labor the head of the fetus is in an inferior position within the woman’s pelvis so that the head acts as a wedge, forcing the cervix and vagina to open as the uterine contractions push against the fetus. …show more content…
This stage may last from a minute to an hour or more. During this stage, contractions of the abdominal muscles assist the uterine contractions. The contractions generate enough pressure to compress blood vessels in the placenta so that blood flow to the fetus is stopped. During periods of relaxation, blood flow to the placenta resumes. Sometime synthetic oxytocin is administered to women during labor to increase the force of the uterine contractions. However, caution must be exercised in using this drug so that tetanic contractions, which would drastically reduce blood flow through the placenta, do not occur. During the third stage of labor uterine contractions cause the placenta to tear away from the wall of the uterus. Some bleeding from the uterine wall occurs as a consequence of the intimate contact between the placenta and the uterus, but the bleeding is normally limited because uterine smooth muscle contractions compress the blood vessels to the