Three Stages To Being A Mummy

OUR STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO WHAT GIVING BIRTH IS REALLY ABOUT

- Radhika Holmstrom

If you’re reading this feature early on in your pregnancy, it may seem virtually impossible to get your head round the fact that yes, you really will end up giving birth to a baby. In fact many of us go on feeling that way for quite a long time – sometimes up to the moment when we first set eyes on our newborn. It’s not just the mechanics of birth (daunting though they are – even when your body’s made to accommodate the exit of a baby). It’s also the mind-boggling move from being a ‘non-parent’ to ‘parent’, with a whole new person in your life, for life. But the fact remains that the day will come only too soon.

The course of how you get there isn’t always predictable. “Things can change rapidly in labour,” says antenatal teacher Rachel Francis. “You can plod along slowly and then speed up: you can be going along swimmingly and suddenly there’s a need to get the baby out.”

Overall, labours follow a set of distinct stages. We’ve focused both on what happens to your body and on how you feel as you go through those stages.

THE RUN-UP

It’s easy to tell if you’re in labour, right? We’ve seen it on television – your waters go pop, your contractions start and it’s time to be whizzed to hospital, giving birth in minutes and only breaking into a light sweat. In real life, it doesn’t always work that way. With first pregnancies, it’s a pretty clear sign when the baby’s head ‘engages’ (and your bump drops into the tell-tale silhouette of late pregnancy) that labour’s drawing near; but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s imminent.