Give birth how long

Reviewed: July 26, Labor and birth. Updated June 6, Mayo Clinic. Labor and delivery, postpartum care. February 6, Duration of spontaneous labour in 'low-risk' women with 'normal' perinatal outcomes: A systematic review.

Factors affecting labor duration in Chinese pregnant women. Medicine Baltimore. Labor length among overweight and obese women undergoing induction of labor. J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med. Biomed Pharmacol J. American Society of Anesthesiologists. Changes in labor patterns over 50 years. Am J Obstet Gynecol. Your Privacy Rights. To change or withdraw your consent choices for VerywellFamily. At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page.

These choices will be signaled globally to our partners and will not affect browsing data. We and our partners process data to: Actively scan device characteristics for identification. I Accept Show Purposes. Labor Stage Duration Approx. What's Happening? Longer Labors Women who remain in the first stage of labor for more than 17 hours are more likely to be considered for interventions to move things along.

This may be done sooner if there are concerns about you or your baby — for example, if the cord is wound tightly around your baby's neck. Once the placenta has come away from your womb, your midwife pulls the cord — which is attached to the placenta — and pulls the placenta out through your vagina.

This usually happens within 30 minutes of your baby being born. Active management speeds up the delivery of the placenta and lowers your risk of having heavy bleeding after the birth postpartum haemorrhage , but it increases the chance of you feeling and being sick. It can also make afterpains contraction-like pains after birth worse. Read about preventing heavy bleeding on our page What happens straight after the birth.

The cord is not cut until it has stopped pulsing. This means blood is still passing from the placenta to your baby. This usually takes around 2 to 4 minutes. Once the placenta has come away from your womb, you should feel some pressure in your bottom and you'll need to push the placenta out.

It can take up to an hour for the placenta to come away, but it usually only takes a few minutes to push it out. If the placenta does not come away naturally or you begin to bleed heavily, you'll be advised by your midwife or doctor to switch to active management. You can do this at any time during the 3rd stage of labour. Read more about what happens straight after you give birth. Page last reviewed: 20 March Next review due: 20 March Home Pregnancy Labour and birth What happens in labour and birth Back to What happens in labour and birth.

The stages of labour and birth. If your labour starts at night, try to stay comfortable and relaxed. Sleep if you can. When to contact a midwife Contact your midwifery team if: your contractions are regular and you're having about 3 in every minute period your waters break your contractions are very strong and you feel you need pain relief you're worried about anything If you go into hospital or your midwifery unit before your labour has become established, they may suggest you go home again for a while.

You can either walk around or get into a position that feels comfortable to labour in. When you reach the end of the 1st stage of labour, you may feel an urge to push.

Monitoring your baby in labour Your midwife will monitor you and your baby during labour to make sure you're both coping well. These pads are attached to a monitor that shows your baby's heartbeat and your contractions Sometimes a clip called a foetal heart monitor can be attached to the baby's head instead.

A foetal scalp monitor will usually only be removed just as your baby is born, not before. Speeding up labour Labour can sometimes be slower than expected. Breaking your waters Breaking the membrane that contains the fluid around your baby your waters is often enough to make contractions stronger and more regular. Oxytocin drip If breaking your waters does not work, your doctor or midwife may suggest using a drug called oxytocin also known as syntocinon to make your contractions stronger.

Finding a position to give birth in Your midwife will help you find a comfortable position to give birth in. A leading-edge research firm focused on digital transformation. Women's Health. Primary Care. Mental Health. More Button Icon Circle with three vertical dots. It indicates a way to see more nav menu items inside the site menu by triggering the side menu to open and close. Ashley Laderer. The first stage of labor is the longest, typically lasting 20 hours if it's your first time giving birth and 14 hours otherwise.

The second stage of labor, when you deliver the baby, lasts about two hours if it's your first time and one hour otherwise. The third, and final stage, when you deliver the placenta, is relatively quick lasting between 15 minutes to an hour. Visit Insider's homepage for more stories. Ashley Laderer is a freelance writer from New York who specializes in health and wellness. Follow her on Twitter ashladerer. Additional comments. Premature babies are often afflicted by various health problems, caused by immature internal organs.

Respiratory difficulties and an increased susceptibility to infection are common. Often there is no known cause for a premature labour; however, some of the maternal risk factors may include:. Around five out of every babies will be overdue, or more than 42 weeks gestation. If you have gone one week past your due date without any signs of impending labour, your doctor will want to closely monitor your condition. Tests include:. The placenta starts to deteriorate after 38 weeks or so, which means an overdue baby may not get enough oxygen.

An overdue baby could also grow too large for vaginal delivery. Generally, an overdue baby will be induced once it is two weeks past its expected date.

Some of the methods of induction include:. This page has been produced in consultation with and approved by:. In Victoria, you can have two types of abortion: surgical and medication. Both types are safe and reliable. You can have a medication abortion up to nine weeks of pregnancy.

You can have a surgical abortion from around six weeks of pregnancy onwards. Pregnant women with asthma need to continue to take their asthma medication as it is important to the health of both mother and baby that the mother's asthma is well managed.