cervix opens wider (effacement) the constrictions become stronger and more frequent until the cervix is fully dilated.

This phase of labour just before the cervix opens to a full 10 centimeters to accommodate the baby’s head and allow the baby to enter the birth canal is the one that is usually felt to be most painful, and may be accompanied by nausea, leg cramps, trembling, backache and increasing irritability and fear and the membranes rupture.

Second stage of labour usually lasts about 90 minutes. During this stage, the cervix opens sufficiently and the baby begins to move down the birth canal. At this point, if the mother has been well prepared, she may use her abdominal muscles to help push the baby along. This second stage of labour may often be shortened considerably by having the mother give birth in a vertical position, for example, by using a bed especially designed to include a birthing bar. When the mother is upright, gravity helps the baby move down the birth canal. Although the second stage of labour usually takes about 90 minutes, the average time in an upright position is only 30 minutes. At the end of the second stage of labour, the baby is born.

Third stage of labour: Is the delivery of the placenta & the umbilical cord which is expelled after the baby is born. This usually takes place within 5-10 minutes, and with this clear removal of the ‘afterbirth’ (placenta) the birth of the child is fully accomplished.