Labor is divided into four stages. Please explain these stages

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

STAGE 1 - The opening to the uterus, the cervix, becomes thinner and begins to open. Typically about the thickness of the space between your eyebrows, and about as firm as the tip of your nose, the cervix thins to about the thickness of the small piece of skin between your thumb and forefinger; by the time the baby is born it is as soft as the inside of your cheek. This stage is divided into three phases: early labor, active labor, and transition.
STAGE 2 - Although the journey through the vagina is only about 5 inches, it may take a first- time mother about 2 hours to push her baby out. During the uterine contractions, as the mother bears down, the force of the contraction holds the baby down, helping the opening to stretch. As the intensity of the contraction lessens, the baby retreats upward. Thus, pushing is somewhat of a 3-steps-forward-2-steps-backward process. Once the baby's head is visible, the baby no longer retreats after a contraction.
STAGE 3 - During this phase, the placenta (the baby's life support system throughout pregnancy) is delivered. This typically occurs within 5 to 30 minutes after the delivery of the baby.
STAGE 4 - Stage 4 is often overlooked by many when discussing the processes of labor and birth, but is no less important. This stage involves the first 2 to 3 hours after birth through the first 24 months after labor and delivery. Because of the tremendous fluctuations that a woman's hormones undergo during the nine months of pregnancy, labor, and birth, it takes time for her body to return to its pre-pregnant state.