Pushing isn't all you need to do!

There are four main factors that affect the length and intensity of labour. They are known as the four P’s and work together to make each woman’s labour unique.

- CHILDBIRTH EDUCATOR TINA OTTE

P STANDS FOR passageway

This is the route your baby will follow as he heads for the outside world. The passageway is made up of the pelvis, cervical opening and birth canal. During the first stage of labour, the first “door” your baby will move through is the cervix, which thins and opens as the baby’s head presses down on it. As your baby moves forward into the vagina, it will encounter many folds of skin (like a fan, hence the name “fanny”) that have been “in storage” waiting for this exact time when more space and length is needed in the vagina. The vagina stretches to accommodate the baby’s head as it moves down towards the exit. As baby moves down, he has to pass through the bony pelvis.