hey there everybody is Alice Turner here from supporting her and we are doing a daily spin
everyday with the big wheel of birth let's do it oh it looks like it is on oh where it started
that's pretty cool so at the beginning number one we have got early labor okay so early labor is the
beginning the beginning phase of Labor ah it is the one that seems it can it can be such a range
it can be short for some people it can be very long for other people and it is the time of labor
when labor just gets started it might even be a time where your body is an early labor but you
don't know that you're in early labor so you might be having some contractions your uterus might be
contracting but likely and early labor there isn't it not likely but often an early labor the uterus
doesn't have a pattern of contractions yet so contractions might be sporadic where they're
happening one you look at one five minutes apart one ten minutes part one seven and a big stretch
goes so that's not uncommon to see an early labor the technical definition of early labor is when
your cervix is between zero centimeters dilated and six centimeters dilated so the cervix dilates
10 centimeters and our technical term is really zero to six centimeters dilated so and that has
changed over the years it used to be zero to four with early labor and the American College
of OBGYNs has updated that to six zero six so it's that early phase of labor where your cervix
is dilating as your 6.now that doesn't mean it early labor doesn't mean that contractions aren't
in a pattern but usually at the very beginning of early labor we see contractions developing
into a pattern it's also the time of labor where contractions are usually shorter from start to
finish so we might see contractions 30 seconds long and then they get more of a 45 more of a
1 minute long from start to finish so we're also seeing contractions go going from a shorter time
period to a longer time period length during early labor early labor is also a time where
you might experience some some other signs of labor like you might experience diarrhea that
can be an early labor sign sometimes people are a little nauseous you're though your water might
break and early labor but it might not it's not a definite sign of early labor sometimes people
lose their mucus plug or have some bloody show both of which are on the wheel which we will
cover at another day um but it's a good time to try to it until active labor as much as you can
coping good coping mechanisms during that time is try to go about your day and your life as as
much as normal as possible and be on the restful side so if it is a time of day that you are in
early labor and you should be sleeping so if it's overnight sleep should be your top priority rest
should be your top priority and then whenever you have to get up whenever you have to move around
and really deal with labor then deal with it but until then because early labor can be so long it's
really encouraged to try to go about your normal day activities now the second time second time
the third time if you had a baby before your early labor might look a little bit different it might
be a little bit shorter it might not look like your first time or your other times giving birth
but it's certainly the time where your body is dilating from zero six zero to six centimeters
good partner support during early labor is encouraging those normal activities that rest
when a when rest should happen definitely bringing water you know having that water bottle ready to
go having snacks ready to go encouraging to move around once labor kind of picks up encouraging
movement and being present is a great way to be a supportive partner in early labor and again just
being as as keeping as normal of an activity in a restful fashion as you can so I don't mean like
go to work go to Target or something like that in early labor though some people do but just trying
to keep keep a little bit of normalcy it's also good in early labor just to check in with your
contractions I wouldn't recommend timing every single contraction because that can make living
life normally not work really keeps you focused on time sometimes can feel really long if you're
timing every contraction but timing checking in with your labor as they feel like they've
changed so early labor it is also the other thing to note is it's usually when people are excited
about labor because you've waited a long time and it's a exciting phase so usually we're more
excited and energetic in early labor then maybe an active or transition phase so if you have any
questions about early labor want to share your experiences of early labor if I missed anything
if you're a birth worker or doula and you want to add to the conversation please enter comments I
to see comments about the topic of the day and keep the conversation going after the
wheel has fun if you need any more information about partner support check out the supporting
her online course for labor which also put the link in the comments and I will spin the wheel
again tomorrow and see what topic we have so see you guys next time bye thanks for joining