There are two questions about dilation that we are being asked almost every single day.
One is: “why am I not dilating?” And the other one is: “why am I not dilating faster?”. Yes. So,
in this video, we are gonna answer both questions, by sharing with you the
10 reasons why you are not dilating at the end of your pregnancy, or not dilating faster no matter
if your contractions have started or not. And of course, we are also going to discuss what you can
do in each situation. Yes. This is Nathalie a pregnancy and birth consultant and TCM therapist
and that's Mathias, a researcher and science Geek, and on this channel,
we help expecting mommies naturally and science based. We are happy that you are watching this!
Okay, so, let’s start with the basics because this is something that seems to confuse so many women:
The biggest part of your cervical dilation happens once you experience true labor contractions and
not before. Period. Yes, it is true that, normally a woman starts to dilate already a bit before she
goes into labor. But not necessarily. And we say this because so many women panic when they are
like 37 or 38 weeks or even 39 weeks pregnant and have not yet started to dilate. But under
normal circumstances, that’s not a reason to be worried. Right. What is true is that, if your cervix
is already dilated before labor starts, even if it’s just a tiny bit, then you are normally
more likely to go into labor spontaneously. So, if this is your first pregnancy, ideally,
your cervix is 1 finger wide dilated or 2 fingers wide, if this is not your first baby.
However, it does not need to be. We are gonna see that other things are more important when
it comes to your cervix before you go into labor. Yes, so with that said, let’s first look into the
possible reasons why you are not dilating OR, if you have already started to dilate a bit,
why you are not dilating faster, no matter if your contractions have started or not. The first reason
can be that your cervix is not ready to dilate. And really, we only talk about one thing here:
your cervix has to be soft. If your cervix is not soft, dilation cannot and will not happen.
Yes. And by the way, your cervix does not necessarily have to be effaced, or thinned out,
so that it can start to dilate. Effacement often happens together with dilation at the same time.
Moreover, initially, the cervix does not need to be forward either. So, what do I mean by that? Well,
during your pregnancy, your cervix is posterior. But at the end of your pregnancy, in preparation
for labor, it is going to move forward, i.e. in an anterior position. Your contractions will
take care of that. So, don’t worry. In fact, a cervix often moves forward in the pre-labor phase.
But initially, it’s not a requirement for you to be able to dilate, okay? Yes. Because of that,
we always say to women: when you are like 37, 38 or 39 weeks pregnant, don’t worry too much
about your dilation. The goal should be to have a soft cervix at that stage so that the dilation process
can start in the first place. For many women this will then mean that dilation will start before
labor starts. For others, dilation will start once labor has started. Right. Both is totally fine.
And if you want to know how you can support that process of softening your cervix, please bear with us.
We are going to share a video with you at the end of THIS video in which we explain in detail how
you can accomplish that. Right. The second reason why you are not dilating or dilating very slowly
is a malposition of the baby. A malposition can obviously be if your baby is breech. But it could
also be that your baby is in some other awkward position, like for example, looking upwards.
However, in most cases, a malposition means that your baby is occiput posterior, i.e. facing
your front instead of your back. Yes, we know it’s a bit counterintuitive that a malposition would
interfere with dilation or cause a slow dilation. In fact, many women have asked us, what does my
baby’s position have to do with my cervix? Well, a lot actually because if your baby is not in
a good position, your baby’s head cannot apply well to your cervix. But that pressure on your
cervix from your baby’s head is one of the main “drivers” of your cervical dilation if you will.
Yes, there are many things that you can try to get baby into a better position when you are in labor.
In fact, in our childbirth class, we show you tons of tricks and positions to accomplish that.
But of course, ideally, baby gets into a better position already before labor starts. If you want
to know how you can do that, please bear with us: later on, we are going to share a video with you
in which we explain in detail what you can do. Right. The next reason why you are not dilating
or dilating very slowly are emotional reasons, for example: stress, anger, frustration or depression
I know, I know, we probably annoy you already with our emotional drivel in some of our videos
but please do not underestimate this. Yes, the problem is that emotions can interfere with
labor hormones. And this can also have an impact on your dilation. And because of that, it becomes
particularly important at the end of your pregnancy, to find ways to cope with emotions.
In fact, if you experience very profound emotions, it might be best to talk to a therapist. But in
most cases, there are other things that can help. For example: yoga, meditation, hypnobirthing, a
massage treatment etc. And one thing that is particularly powerful is when you combine such
relaxation techniques with alternative medicine treatments, for example, auriculotherapy, that
we teach in our childbirth class. Yes, and there is one more thing that can help the body relax.
And that’s exercising which leads us to the next reason why you are not dilating or dilating very
slowly. And that’s lack of movement. We clearly observe that there is a tendency of women who are
active during their pregnancy, particularly during the end of their pregnancy, to be more likely to
dilate before labor starts. Yes. And that’s also what studies have found. For example, it was shown that
women who do birth ball exercises tend to have a better Bishop score, which means that their cervix
is more ready to go into labor and they tend to be dilated to a certain degree even before
labor starts. Of course, exercising is not a guarantee that you will start to dilate early,
but the tendency is that it is more likely to happen. Right. But movement is also a very
important factor when your contractions have started already. In fact, immobility in labor
is one of the main reasons why dilation often goes super slowly. So, if your contractions
have started already, try to keep mobile and active to support the whole dilation process.
Okay, so far, we have discussed reasons why you are not dilating at all or dilating very slowly,
no matter if you are already in labor or not. The remaining reasons apply in cases when contractions
have started but your dilation goes very slowly. So, the next reason why dilation can go very slowly
is dehydration and overhydration. Studies clearly show that both can slow down the progress
in the first stage of labor which is the dilation phase. So, please make sure that you regularly
have some sips of water but don’t force yourself to drink more than what you feel is right for you,
particularly, if they keep you hydrated intravenously. Because remember,
overhydration is not good either. Right. Talking about hydration. Obviously, hydration will lead
to a full bladder. And a full bladder can also slow down your labor and dilation. And that’s
pretty obvious because your bladder is located in your pelvis. So, if your bladder is full, it will
take more space in your pelvis and leave your baby less room to descend. And because of that
you should regularly empty your bladder once your contractions have started. Right. The next reason
why your dilation can be super slow in labor is when you take a warm bath for too long. If you
take a warm bath of say, one hour in early labor, then it will slow down your contractions. As
a result, it can also slow down your dilation or prevent that your dilation starts in
the first place. And that’s because a warm bath can lead to the production of certain hormones
which can interfere or even inhibit the production of labor hormones. Right.
The next reason why your dilation can be very slow are medications. Yes. In fact,
this is something that often happens when you have an epidural later in active labor. But it could
also be other medications that can cause a slow dilation, for example, pain medications that you
receive in early labor or medications that are not even related to your labor. Yes. Obviously, it can be
difficult to find a solution in that case as long as the effect of the medication is still there.
So, either you wait until the effect wears off. Or, and this is what usually happens, particularly
if you have an epidural, they will give you synthetic oxytocin to keep labor going. Yes. The
next reason why your dilation can go very slowly in labor is because of inadequate contractions.
Inadequate contractions basically means that your contractions are unable to dilate your cervix.
Unfortunately, there are lots of reasons why contractions can be inadequate. For example,
because the baby is not in an optimal position. But we cannot explain all of those reasons in
a 10-minute video. But we do discuss this topic extensively in our childbirth class and of course,
we also show you what exactly you can try in such cases. Yes. And then finally,
please keep in mind that sometimes, the exact reason why your dilation is so slow or why you
are not dilating at all is unknown. It is very rare though. In fact, most of the times, there
are always one or two factors which can point you into the right direction. But in very rare cases,
there is just no obvious reason. But the good news here is that if you give your body time,
the problem will normally resolve by itself. Right. So, as we already said, there are a
lot of things that you can do if dilation does not progress or if you are not dilating at all.
And we explain all of them in detail in our childbirth class. However, as mentioned already, an
even better way would be to prevent this from happening in the first place. So, what you can
do is, well there are actually three things, right? Yes. First, help your body soften your cervix from week
37. If you want to know how, watch the video that pops up now. Right. Second, at least equally
important is to help your baby into the best position for labor, particularly if your baby is
occiput posterior. If you want to know how, watch the video that pops up now. Right. And third, if you are
36+ weeks pregnant but baby has not yet engaged, help your baby to do so with the help of your 5
steps protocol. Video pops up now. Yes. But as always, you can also find the links to those videos
in the description below this video. Right. If you have found this video helpful, we would
be super grateful if you could leave us a like below this video! Yes. And for more useful tips
and tools on pregnancy-related topics, make sure to subscribe to our channel and to hit the bell!