Your baby

The average baby is about seven-and-a-half pounds at birth, though your baby could be a dainty six pounds or a whopping 10 pounder! At around 50cm from head to toe, it seems incredible that you’ve carried this baby inside you for so long.

Your baby has developed a thick layer of subcutaneous fat that makes him look plump and gives him reserves to draw on during the first few days after the birth.

By now, all of your baby’s systems are developed and ready to go. His lungs are still manufacturing large quantities of surfactant to keep the air sacs open. With all the major work done, your baby will simply continue to mature, growing longer hair and nails and putting on 8oz of fat a week.

Your progress

Ok, now the going is tough. You may experience lower body pain, especially when you stand up or cough. This can be caused by your muscles and ligaments stretching from the weight of the baby and uterus. If so, practice your pelvic floor exercises as often as you can and hold in your pelvic floor muscles tightly when getting up or down.

As your baby’s head engages, you may get pain that appears to come from between your buttocks or sudden, shooting pains down your legs if your baby's body compresses a nerve. Following an internal examination, your health care provider may report that your cervix has started to thin and dilate

You may notice a bloody show when you go to the loo. This is the mucus plug that sealed off the mouth of your uterus to help protect your baby from infections. Its texture will be jelly-like or stringy, and it can be white, yellowish, or slightly brownish with flecks of blood. If so, inform your midwife at your next appointment.

What to think about

When it’s for real

Real contractions are very different from Braxton Hicks. Instead of being random, they follow a pattern. They get longer, stronger and closer together over time.

Even if you're sure it's labour, there's no need to race off to the hospital immediately. Recent research appears to show that women who check into the hospital before labour is well established are more likely to have interventions and are also potentially more at risk for having caesarean sections, so you may want to consider staying at home for a while.

Nor is there any need to start trying out all the breathing and moving strategies you learned in your antenatal classes. Not just yet. You'll wear yourself out, and you probably have another 10-12 hours yet to go. Just try to get as much sleep as you can, taking soothing baths, keep hydrated and, if you're not feeling nauseous, eat protein (think eggs, meat, fish, or tofu), and good carbs (veggies, wholegrain bread).

The general rule is to wait until your contractions last about a minute each and are approximately five minutes a part before calling your midwife or maternity hospital. But most contractions don't run on clockwork like that - so you may just have to take averages.

All About Contractions

You're likely to know when contractions mean business. The real ones are painful, become progressively more intense and happen closer together. There's no need to worry about suddenly feeling a little pressure and then giving birth in the loo or the back seat of a car. You'll have plenty of notice before it's time to go to the hospital.

As labour progresses, your contractions will continue to get stronger and more intense with shorter breaks in between each one, until they last for 1-1.5 minutes with breaks of 15-30 seconds between each. Each contraction will start gradually and build to a peak, when it is most painful, before slowing down and giving you a brief period of rest.

Your cervix dilates

During labour, the muscle fibres of your uterus will draw upward using waves of contractions, as many as 300 for first-time mothers, and 200 for mothers with experienced wombs. The contractions get increasingly more co-ordinated and stronger as labour progresses. Your cervix will slowly open over the process of hours of contractions until you become "fully dilated," meaning your cervix is about 10cm in diameter. This usually takes about 10-12 hours for first time mothers and 4-5 hours for subsequent births.

Transition

This is your shortest but most intense phase of labour; but thankfully it doesn’t last for long. Your contractions will be coming thick and fast now. At this stage you may feel sick, trembling and out of control, as if you you can't take another contraction. Modesty will be the last thing on your mind. If you were ever to want pain relief, now’s the time when you’re likely to be demanding it - and loudly!

The "Pushing" Stage

Once the mouth of the cervix is completely open, the second stage of labour begins and you start pushing your baby out. This stage is shorter than the first stage and may last only 20 minutes to an hour. Unless you have had an epidural, you will feel a powerful urge to start pushing your baby out – in fact, it may be hard to stop you!

During this stage, you'll feel the pressure of your baby's head between your legs. With each contraction, push for as long as you want to or, if you have had an epidural, listen to your midwife who will tell you when to push. With every push, your baby will move down through your pelvis a little. As your baby's head stretches the opening of the vagina, you'll probably feel a hot, stinging sensation and your midwife will tell you that your baby's head has "crowned". As your baby's head begins to be born, she may ask you to stop pushing and gently pant. This helps make sure that your baby is born gently and slowly.

Delivering the Placenta

Even though most people think that birth ends with a baby being born, actually there is one more stage yet to go. After your baby comes out, the placenta will peel away from the uterine wall that it's been attached to for nine and a half months. With some strong squeezes from your uterus, the placenta will be delivered smoothly and quickly.