The first pregnancy is like a nine-month school term. Not every woman prepares for her in advance, setting the deadlines for the proposed birth, and therefore - and conception. Often, everything happens unexpectedly, and the expectant mother is not always psychologically and informationally ready for the imminent arrival of a child. Therefore, immediately after the confirmation of pregnancy, the stage of studying the process begins: how will her body change from month to month, in what time frame and how childbirth begins, what happens. There are no problems with sources of information on the topic these days.
Give birth to help
Previously, future mothers received the necessary information about pregnancy and childbirth from books, magazines, medical brochures, as well as the stories of women who had already had children with their children. Today, the first assistant to get all the important and useful information is the Internet. But even with him, who knows the answer to any question, a lively conversation with mothers who have already taken place, who have personally undergone childbirth trials, is an indispensable help in preparing to gain your own experience. They will help to create the right opinion about the phases of the body’s changes and the characteristics of the female body in these nine months, will teach you to recognize certain movements of the baby in the stomach, advise how to facilitate contractions, determine the timing when the menstruation begins after childbirth.
It is especially useful to talk with those women who gave birth in a clinic where the expectant mother plans to give birth to her first child. The location of the wards, the number of beds in them, the staff of the hospital, the regime and diet - any information is a value. It is necessary to prepare comprehensively so that a stay in the prenatal and postpartum wards will leave a pleasant impression in your memory. And knowing the situation in the clinic itself, it will be easier to equip your everyday life in the first days of communication with the baby. Because neither the husband nor close relatives helping to take care of him will be around. Therefore, it is so important to have an idea of the environment of the clinic in advance. Those who know her will give complete and comprehensive information about the hospital. Close communication with those already giving birth can give a lot of useful information. Not only during the course of pregnancy, but also in terms of knowledge, when, after childbirth, a full intimate life begins in new parents.
Training courses
Where and how to prepare for the upcoming birth, each woman decides individually. Her main consultant during this period is a gynecologist who monitors the course of pregnancy. The sooner the expectant mother will be registered in the antenatal clinic, the better. Besides the fact that she will regularly take tests and have an idea of her condition and development of the child, she will be able to attend pregnant training courses in a timely manner, depending on the term. There are a lot of them, and especially they will be useful for the first time giving birth, since it is very important to know what needs to be done and how to behave properly during the period of gestation. Women’s courses teach how to react to all changes in her body, how to avoid complications when something goes wrong, how to understand that childbirth has begun, and much more. Often, future parents attend classes together.
This is necessary not only in the case of the direct presence of the husband during childbirth in the department, as is often the case. Many men express a desire to be with their spouse at such an important moment for the family as the birth of their first child. But the husband’s help may also be needed in the prenatal period, especially in the last months of pregnancy, when it is difficult for a woman to turn to the other side on her own during a night's rest due to her large belly. Often, his participation is required when performing strengthening physical exercises that the expectant mother is urgently needed. In addition, being able to recognize the signs of a beginning labor, the husband will be able to more easily respond to the pain experienced by his wife when labor pains. Therefore, training courses must be attended by both mother and father.
Alarm case
Most often, the first birth occurs between 38 and 42 weeks of gestation. Such a large run depends largely on the different times of ovulation of a woman at the time of conception, as well as the duration of her menstrual cycle. The individual development of the child in the womb, his personal readiness for birth also play an important role in how early this can happen. Therefore, counting from the 38th week, the young mother should be ready to be sent to the hospital at any time, especially having only a theoretical idea of how the birth of the nulliparous begins and how soon after obvious signs it is necessary to go there. It often happens that the waters leave before the contractions appear, and in this case it is impossible to delay. It is important to be in the hospital as early as possible.
Therefore, it will not be superfluous to prepare documents and things in advance. It is wiser to keep an exchange card, passport, compulsory or voluntary medical insurance policy in one place, and it is better somewhere on the surface, so as not to look in a hurry. A nightgown, slippers, a bathrobe, a scarf or a hat - the things recommended for the hospital from the appropriate fabric can be folded into the bag intended for this in advance, so that it remains only to grab documents and food for the first time. You should also worry about your own diet in the hospital and think carefully about what is best to take with you right away, and what relatives should bring later. Until 38 weeks, a woman does not have to be under the constant supervision of relatives, but after this time, and even more so if delivery does not begin after 41 weeks, it will be wiser to be with someone close to her as often as possible. Since now everything can happen at any moment.
Mom Young or Mature
In young women and women already in pregnancy, the period of pregnancy and the first birth can take place in different ways. The body of older mothers is either too active, or, conversely, too weak labor. What is the first feature that the second can affect the child negatively. Rapid birth threatens to end in trauma of the baby, as the mother's body may not have time to create a safe path for its passage. A sluggish process can lead to oxygen starvation of the baby, especially if 40 weeks have passed, and childbirth does not begin. In adulthood, this period can be perceived as critical.
In addition, older women are much more likely than young women, under 35 years old, to give birth to children with diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, cardiovascular and nervous systems. There is also a high risk of having a child with Down syndrome. An anomaly of the fetus develops at the level of chromosomes and genetic mutations, since the optimal age of the body for the reproduction of a healthy baby is limited to a certain number of years of a woman. Multiparous is easier to navigate, as far as her body is already adapted to this. She could draw the correct conclusion on the first pregnancy, especially when the periods after childbirth during breastfeeding began too early. This phenomenon indicates a rapid recovery of her body and readiness for a new pregnancy.
Several decades ago, it was believed that the optimal period for the first pregnancy is not younger than 21 years old and not older than 30. Today, both the lower and upper thresholds for safe childbearing have expanded significantly. Women spend a lot of time caring for their body. In fashion - youth and a healthy lifestyle. Nowadays, a pregnancy of 40 and older will not surprise anyone. However, deciding on late motherhood, especially the first, it is important to realize how strong a woman has her own body for bearing a child. It is not enough to know and understand how childbirth begins, how it passes and what needs to be done at each stage. It is important to realize how great the risk of the birth of a sick or injured child is, therefore, heroing and insisting on a natural birth is not worth it. Due to the loss of elasticity due to the age of the birth canal, a safer way for mature women is a cesarean section.
The danger of pathologies
Having a healthy baby is a great happiness. But no one is safe from tragedies: neither a young healthy mother, nor one who is already aged. Pregnancy and fetal development do not always go away, as parents crave. Inconsistency of the rhesus blood of the father and mother can complicate the baby's condition and prevent its normal formation. The presence of chronic diseases in parents or representatives of their older generation is able to transmit the illness to the baby by inheritance at the gene level. The development of intrauterine infection, mechanical injuries and bruises of the mother, her strong nervous excitability or emotional shock not only negatively affect the correct formation of the fetus, but also can accelerate the period of the baby's birth. How to understand that childbirth has begun, given all of the above factors? Careful observation of your own body will help. Characteristic contractions may be absent, but the appearance of pain in the lower abdomen or in the upper pelvic part is the reason to call an ambulance.
Less frightening circumstances can lead to premature birth. For example, shortening of the cervix of the mother. She is still able to hold a small fruit, but the grown-up will be asked outside early. An experienced gynecologist who monitors the course of pregnancy identifies this distinctive feature of a woman immediately and warns of the possibility of a premature process and the likelihood of injuries to the infant during childbirth. How the contractions begin, their difference from the onset in due time, other harbingers of the imminent birth of the child - it is important to discuss all these points with your doctor as soon as the slightest suspicion of the presence of a woman's pathology is revealed. Also, the development of several fruits in the womb can significantly bring the birth closer. Twins or triplets, as a rule, are born at 34-36 weeks. And she is considered full-term already on the 32nd.
A drill
Often, panic in primitive and inexperienced mothers can cause such a phenomenon as training, or false, contractions. According to their main characteristics, they are very similar to real ones, and a woman unfamiliar with them can easily take them for harbingers of actual labor activity. However, after observing your own body for some time, you can understand that the alarm is false. In training fights, weak urge and the period between them does not shorten, but keeps, as a rule, at the mark of a 20-minute interval. After a few hours, they pass, but for a woman, especially for the first time giving birth, this phenomenon is practically a teaching aid on the present process awaiting her in a couple of days. Firstly, the onset of false contractions is a sign that a child will be born in the coming week. Secondly, the expectant mother is given the chance to experience for herself what they look like and how to act correctly, feeling that they begin. When after giving birth she will be able to compare them with the real ones, she will be able to see for herself how similar they are.
Intensive preparation of the body for the appearance of the child begins at 38 weeks. For an inexperienced mother, this is a milestone. From this moment on, caution and careful observation of one's own body should be extreme. In addition to false contractions, the approaching birth can be indicated by:
- drooping belly;
- frequent urination;
- stool problems (constipation or diarrhea).
There are many signs of active labor. Their expectant mother must be studied thoroughly. Theoretical knowledge will help not only in the process of the birth of a child, but also in the future. In this case, the upcoming processes will not be frightened by surprise when a woman experiences on herself that her gait changes or when her period begins after childbirth with breastfeeding, although this is a rather rare occurrence. Knowing that this has already happened to someone, it’s easier to react to the same events in your life.
Body Tips
A few weeks before the birth, the woman’s body itself shows her that it’s time to prepare for an important event, but to rush to the hospital is only if the expectant mother observes the immediate signs of labor. A lowered abdomen or a change in gait does not apply to them. These only say that the baby’s birthday is soon, he has grown enough, gained weight and is preparing for the appearance. The body itself suggests that it is ready for some processes. So, if a month after giving birth to menstruation, the body seems to say that it is ready for regular intimate relationships. And as for frequent urination or a changed stool, there is only one signal - the child in the uterus has gained a certain mass and presses on the walls of the intestine and bladder. In primiparas, this can be observed several days before birth, and a month. It all depends on the weight of the baby in the womb.
What else you should pay attention to is the vaginal discharge of a whitish or transparent color at the end of pregnancy. They can be plentiful, but liquid. You should not be afraid, this is just a consequence of hormonal changes in the body. But the release of excess fluid reduces the weight of the woman herself by 1-2 kg. It is important to know and remember about this, so as not to panic for no reason if a couple of kilograms is lost. At the next examination by a gynecologist, the process of fluid exit should be described in detail. However, even if there is still time before the next visit to the doctor, and along with the liquid on the underwear, the woman has found a clot of the mucous substance, this should be reported immediately. This indicates that the cork has come off. When childbirth begins after her separation, the process is strictly individual for each woman, regardless of whether she is primogenous or is pregnant with a second or subsequent child. A week or three may pass, but in any case soon.
Readiness number one
The next stage is active labor. It occurs when the fetus is strong enough, and the uterus is ready for its reproduction into the light. The harbingers of the speedy process are experienced by all women. For the first time, giving birth to them is sometimes difficult to recognize due to weak signals and inexperience in such matters, but listening carefully to your body, its signs can be read like a maternity allowance. It is difficult not to notice such significant changes in the body . For mothers who already have children, it will not be difficult to understand how the second birth begins. For those who are waiting for the first-born, readiness number one comes with regular fights, the interval between which begins with 20-25 minutes, but is gradually reduced. The phenomenon indicates that the uterine neuromuscular apparatus is ready to expel the fetus from the womb. And the child has accumulated enough vital functions to use them independently, without communication with the mother.
The appearance of contractions is not the only sign indicating that it is time to go to the clinic. Intensive leakage of aqueous humor from the vagina is the second body signal that childbirth begins. As soon as the expectant mother notices something like this, you can not hesitate. Amniotic fluid withdrawal should ideally occur already in the hospital, as giving birth, as the people say, “dry”, is quite difficult. It is easier for the child to pass through the birth canal when they are soft and elastic. Amniotic fluid and create this environment. Even primogenous is easy to understand how this process looks. There is usually a lot of water and it flows in a stream. These two signs: contractions and fluid secretion are the main signals for the expectant mother.
Little feat
The instinct of procreation will help the body cope with this complex process. At the right time, the abdomen will lower, contractions will appear, water will withdraw, attempts will come, pushing the baby out of the uterus and leading him through the birth canal. The mechanism is laid by nature itself. After what time the birth begins after the first contractions, it largely depends on whether the firstborn is waiting for the mother or her body has already passed through a similar test, and it is easier for him to adapt to the already familiar process. But no matter how intensively or, conversely, the body did not react listlessly, it needs to be helped. And not only by the medical staff. The mother herself can facilitate the birth of a child.
At the training courses, which parents are strongly advised to attend during pregnancy, the woman gets the opportunity to work out a system of behavior that will help her later in the process of childbirth. How to breathe properly during contractions and attempts, what physical exercises can relieve pain during contractions? In some they give in the stomach, in others - in the lower back. Therefore, the courses teach to massage all possible places. And how childbirth begins - apply certain breathing techniques. They are few, you can remember easily. However, following the lessons learned when pain tears the body apart is the second question. Not every woman is capable of this small feat. But it is important to remember one thing - proper breathing helps preserve the life and health of the baby during childbirth. The main thing is to help him come into the world without complications. For this, the mother suffers all the inconveniences of nine months of pregnancy. When there is very little left, it is necessary to mobilize all the remaining forces.
Patience and work
So, massaging contractions. What will have the effect: a point impact or power rubbing of a fairly large area of the abdomen or lower back - this again will tell your own body. But the right tactics will help ease the pain of contractions. As for breathing, the slow and deep filling and emptying of the lungs must be alternated with sharp, short and fast breaths / exhalations when the child goes through one or another stage of his birth. Sometimes obstetricians themselves tell their mothers how to breathe in a given period of time. The coherence of the actions of medical staff and women in childbirth can both shorten the process of the baby’s appearance and make it easier for him to move along the narrow and close patrimonial stupa. Therefore, the correct breathing of the mother is so important. And even more so you should refrain from screaming, as they squeeze the already small space through which the baby comes out.
The first birth lasts, as a rule, from ten to 12 hours. This is an approximate time. It happens a little faster or longer - all individually. But the primogenous should be mentally prepared for a long trial. If the process is too sluggish, and the baby is already on his way so that he is not threatened with hypoxia, doctors carry out stimulation. The period is accelerating. After the birth of the baby, detachment and exit of the placenta follows. Often this is a quick and painless process, but if the obstetricians suspect that she has not left completely, they perform mechanical cleaning under general anesthesia of the mother.
In many ways, a feature of placental abruption is an indicator of how easy it is and when menstruation begins after childbirth in women. Individual intimate characteristics of the body are interconnected. Therefore, the slightest changes in one's own body should be noticed during the first birth. Observation will help easier and easier to postpone a second pregnancy when the woman is ready for it. In addition, the body, having once passed this test, will remember it physically and will be easier to rebuild when the time comes for the appearance of the next baby.