Let’s be real: labor is no easy task.
It is both physically and mentally challenging as you get closer to that 40-week mark, especially if you’re a first-time mom. Not only is your body about to go through one of its most difficult events to date, but you also have to mentally prepare for how you’ll get from start to finish.
In fact, your mental outlook on your labor and delivery can greatly affect the physical aspect of it. As the Iranian Journal of Nursing and Midwifery Research in the US National Library of Medicine explains:
Having an abnormal pregnancy, low knowledge and bitter experience of the previous pregnancies can increase the labor pain while a normal pregnancy, having self esteem, pleasure and relaxation can decrease it and hence make your delivery favorable and if the woman would be pleased and relaxed, without facing real pains, her pain tolerance threshold would be increased.
Because of the fact that your mind can have a great impact on your body, it’s important to know the different stages of labor and what to expect during each stage so that you can be ready and focused when it happens.
Labor is generally broken into three stages:
- Early and Active Labor
- Delivering the Baby
- Delivering the Placenta
Continue reading about each of these stages here.