The signs of labor

1. In labor: Uterine contraction develops regularly. The frequency is up to every 3-5 minutes. It might company with pain, or low back soreness, or lower abdominal distention.
2. False labor pain: The uterine contraction is irregular, intermittent, and painless. Such pain is located at the abdomen and it can be relieved after your taking a walk or simply resting.
3. Bloody show(bloody mucous vaginal discharge): cervix often becomes soft and thin during the process of cervix rupture. At the same time, there would be mucus discharged from the cervical ostium. The mucus accompanied with the mild bleeding is bloody show.
4. Rupture of the membrane：There would be warm and clear involuntary fluid discharge, amniotic fluid, from vagina often known as rupture of membrane.

Per vaginal examination

• In order to assess the degree of cervical dilation and descent of the fetal head, medical staff must perform per vaginal examinations. Procedure: First disinfect the vaginal opening with betadine, then wear gloves and enter the vagina with index and middle fingers for inspection.
• Note: To alleviate the discomfort during internal consultation, you can take a deep breath during per vaginal consultation, then exhale with your mouth open, and relax your abdomen and buttocks.

The progress of labor

1. Stage I- Latent phase:

Stage one refers to the beginning of true labor pain up to cervical dilatation of 3 cm. The frequency of regular uterine contraction shortened; 3 contractions every ten minutes or one contraction every 3-5 minutes for mulliparous; one contraction every 3-7 minutes for multiparous women. Cervix would gradually dilate accompanied with minor dark red vaginal discharge. When diagnosed of 2-3 centimeters of dilated cervix, doctors often recommend patients to be admitted to the hospital. The time for latent phase is uncertain. With nulliparous patient, the latent phase could sometimes exceed 20 hours and up to 4 hours for multiparous patients.

2. Stage I- Active phase:

Followed by the latent phase, it is the full active phase of cervical dilation for up to 4-10 centimeters. At this phrase, contractions intensify approximately once every 3 minutes with each contraction lasting 40-60 seconds. When entering the active phase, nilliparous patients would have cervix dilated up to 1.2 cm/per hour while multiparous patients’ cervix dilates up to 1.5 cm/per hour. Generally, nilliparous patients should complete active phrase in 10 hours and 8 hours for multiparous patients.

3. The second stage- delivery of the infant:

The second stage begins from the full dilatation of the cervix to the delivery of the infant. It contracts once every 1-3 minutes and lasts 60-90 seconds. This stage often takes a nilliparos patient 2 hours to complete the stage and 45 minutes for a multiparous patient. You are ready to move to the delivery table once we see the fetal head from the vagina.

4. The third stage- Delivery of the placenta and the membrane:

The third stage begins from infant delivery to the delivery of the placenta and the membrane. Patients still get mild lower abdominal pain which lasts fewer than 30 minutes. The physician will repair the laceration wound or the episiotomy at the same time.

Please call for help at our delivery room located on the 7^th floor of Li-Fu building when you have the following symptoms

1. Rupture of membrane despite the amount of water
2. Regular and severe lower abdominal pain
3. The amount of the bloody show is equal to the second day of the menstrual period.
4. Urge sensation of stool passage.
5. Regular labor pain when the contraction is twice every 10 minutes and lasts 20-30 seconds each time.

Delivery preparation

1. Before the delivery: bring your ID card, National health insurance IC card, Register card, and Prenatal examination booklet
2. After the delivery: bring your clothes, toiletries, pad, abdomen bondage, and clothes for your newborn baby.
3. When you visited our delivery room, the nurses will perform pelvic examination for you. If there are signs of admission, our nurses will prepare the admission documents for you.
4. If you have other questions, ask our nurses and the physicians at all time.