Very few occurred between 5pm and 6. Differences between days were most pronounced among pre-planned caesarean births, which rarely occur at weekends or on public holidays. The highest numbers were recorded on Mondays and on weekdays after a holiday period, followed by Thursdays and weekdays before a holiday, reflecting staff working patterns. Lastly, births after induced labours, which made up over a fifth of births, were more likely to occur at hours around midnight on Tuesdays to Saturdays and on days before a public holiday period.
They were less likely to occur on Sundays, Mondays and during or just after a public holiday. The study authors highlighted tat induced labours may lead to spontaneous births, operative births using forceps or ventouse or emergency caesareans. These three groups of induced births share a weekly cycle that has its highest peak on Friday night and its trough on Monday morning. As in earlier analyses by day of birth, they noted that numbers reached their minimum level on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
Adding to my anxiety was the idea that the onset of labor often occurs when the body is gearing up for sleep ha! It never happened for me, but it does for a lot of moms-to-be, so the question remains: does labor happen more at night?
The short answer is yes. In , the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC published data that showed the majority of births happened in the morning or midday hours , meaning many women began active labor when the moon was out. Melatonin, the sleep hormone, starts ramping up its production as sunlight decreases and builds up until bedtime when our bodies are ready to sleep, but in late-term pregnancies, this potent hormone does some interesting stuff that might bring your little bundle into the world before tomorrow's lunch.
If you expose a slice of uterine muscle in a petri dish to a low dose of oxytocin, for example, nothing will happen. But if you add some melatonin to the mix, the uterine muscle will begin to contract. Suppressed production results in lower melatonin levels in the bloodstream following light exposure.
Are we messing with the natural rhythm and an evolutionary-tuned signal by basking in unnatural light in the middle of labor? Does the hospital lighting suppress melatonin and stall labor? No one has directly researched how hospital lights affect labor. But the circumstantial evidence points in that direction. Light exposure at night has been shown to slow contractions, or even stop them altogether.
In short, if your hope is to meet your baby ASAP, fluorescent hospital lights may not provide the best environment for that goal. Fortunately, you can try a few strategies to get around the realities of our modern world: Labor at home for as long as you can, with the lights low.
It's a good idea to try some of these positions before you go into labour. Talk to your birth partner so they know how they can help you. Find out what your birth partner can do. When your cervix is fully dilated, your baby will move further down the birth canal towards the entrance to your vagina. You may get an urge to push that feels a bit like you need to poo.
You can push during contractions whenever you feel the urge. You may not feel the urge to push immediately. If you have had an epidural, you may not feel an urge to push at all. If you're having your 1st baby, this pushing stage should last no longer than 3 hours. If you've had a baby before, it should take no more than 2 hours. This stage of labour is hard work, but your midwife will help and encourage you.
Your birth partner can also support you. When your baby's head is almost ready to come out, your midwife will ask you to stop pushing and take some short breaths, blowing them out through your mouth. This is so your baby's head can be born slowly and gently, giving the skin and muscles in the area between your vagina and anus the perineum time to stretch. Sometimes your midwife or doctor will suggest an episiotomy to avoid a tear or to speed up delivery.
This is a small cut made in your perineum. You'll be given a local anaesthetic injection to numb the area before the cut is made. Once your baby is born, an episiotomy, or any large tears, will be stitched closed. Find out about your body after the birth , including how to deal with stitches. Once your baby's head is born, most of the hard work is over. The rest of their body is usually born during the next 1 or 2 contractions.
You'll usually be able to hold your baby immediately and enjoy some skin-to-skin time together. You can breastfeed your baby as soon as you like. Ideally, your baby will have their 1st feed within 1 hour of birth. Read more about skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding in the first few days. The 3rd stage of labour happens after your baby is born, when your womb contracts and the placenta comes out through your vagina. Your midwife will explain both ways to you while you're still pregnant or during early labour, so you can decide which you would prefer.
There are some situations where physiological management is not advisable. Your midwife or doctor can explain if this is the case for you.
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