Episode 17: Active Labor

Hello and welcome to Episode 17. Today we're discussing active labor.

What do you imagine (or remember) when you think of yourself in active labor?

For most people in labor, active labor is when you can no longer 'do life' anymore. When you have no choice but to use all the coping mechanisms at your disposal to work through the intensity. Active labor is when you may find the most benefits from low moans, swaying, and partner support. Active labor -- this is when sh*t gets real.

See you next week - we'll be discussing TRANSITION (transition is it's own special beast).

Full Video Transcript:

Welcome back to the weekly Brave Journey, birth preparation videos. This is episode 17. Today we're talking about active labor.

So, um, this week we're talking about active labor, which is when things start to get real, when people are laboring to meet their babies.

So, without further ado, let's talk active labor.

When you can no longer "do life". And when you can no longer rest, active labor is when the real work of labor starts. And if we're using cervical dilation as the indicator, active labor is six centimeters to eight centimeters dilation.

When active labor arrives it often arrives with a descent into the laborland mindset. So this is a really altered mind state that is honestly a gift to birthing people. It's when time stops feeling like a normal passage of time. It makes contractions often feel more manageable. It's kind of a spaciness. And also it's where the birthing person is just 100% focusing on the work of labor. That is what I would call the descent into laborland.

So what active labor looks like to me as a birth doula is when somebody calls me not necessarily what it looks like, but what it sounds like is when somebody calls me and it's not the birthing person calling me , it is the birth partner. Because the birthing person is way too focused on the work of labor to make a call to the doula. So this is when the birth partner will call me and say, okay, "Cara things are getting real". The birth partner may be feeling a little bit overwhelmed and not sure how to help their birthing person anymore.

And they're often, um, telling me what's been going on. And then in the background, I will hear the birthing person moaning. I will hear like, uh, *mimics laboring moans* that is what I know that that person is an active labor and we'll talk about labor coping practices later in a later lesson for active labor, but low, deep moans through contractions are excellent coping practices.

So this is when the birth partner is calling me and the person is birthing person is moaning in the background, that I tend to know that we're likely in active labor..

Active labor is, as it sounds like I said, this is when the real work of labor begins. Finding a rhythm of coping during early labor and the beginning of active labor can really, really serve the birthing person well, once they get to the stage of really having to work hard. So practicing rhythmic movement and rhythmic motions and coping practices can really, this is when active labor is when it's time to use it. them.

It's no longer an option in active labor, whether or not to use coping practices because, um, there's really no choice. To work through these contractions at this stage is when coping practices have to be used.

So birth partners. This may be when you start to feel like you are in over your head. Active labor is when birth partners often start looking for someone to save or help their birth person. The truth is, is that in our caring community of support, most people- doulas excluded- we're used to it, but most people are not comfortable being around other people in discomfort. And so birth partners often start looking for ways to relieve this discomfort for the birthing person. And that's not always helpful.

And to remind yourself, intensity is a great thing in labor. Because strong, regular contractions are effective contractions. Each contraction is inviting that cervical dilation, is helping that baby find their position, that rotation, that lowering and station. Each strong long contraction is an effective contraction. Weak, easily manageable contractions that are sporadic. Those are not effective. That is not going to bring baby here.

So remind yourself as things get super-intense. As the birthing person has to work extremely hard in active labor. When the real work of labor begins, that means everything is going really, really well. And so it's a practice for birth partners and it's a practice for everyone supporting that birthing person to be comfortable with the birthing person having to work very, very hard.

So birth partners, what can you do to support your birthing person when things get really intense? The best thing you can do is to stay present. Stay near your birthing person's face so that they know you're there. Touch them, use the coping practices that you practice together during the labor coping practice lessons of this birth preparation program, and recognize that the work of labor is really intense and it's going to be an intense experience.

So in future lessons, we will practice labor coping positions. These can look like all sorts of variations of being upright and leaning forward. So being on all fours, leaning forward on a counter or on the back of a couch, sitting on a birth ball, leaning on a birth partner. And in future lessons, we will also use ice to simulate intense sensation- will hold ice in our hands. And then practice labor coping practices and practice birth partner, massage or birth partner support and touch to see what is effective at helping when there is intense sensation. It's not nearly so intense as labor is, but it's the closest we can get. And it's an opportunity to practice: where does our mind go when we experience difficult sensation? When we experienced pain, do we get mad? Do you want to blame people? It's very common.

Okay, that concludes our discussion on active labor today. Next week, we will talk about transition and transition is... It's own beast. It's a wonderful time in labor because you know you're getting close to meeting your baby, but also it is a very intense time and labor. So we'll talk about that next week.

As always, please email me if you have any questions or comments or just something to say, I'm [email protected] and I just love talking to pregnant people, so feel free to reach out and thank you so much.

I appreciate you. Thanks for watching and I will see you next week as we discuss transition.