The client has asked the nurse why her cervix has only changed from 1 to 2 cm in 3 hours of contractions occurring every 5 minutes. What is the nurse's best response to the client?

Question

1. "Your cervix has also effaced, or thinned out, and that change in the cervix is also labor progress."
2. "When your perineal body thins out, your cervix will begin to dilate much faster than it is now."
3. "What did you expect? You've only had contractions for a few hours. Labor takes time."
4. "The hormones that cause labor to begin are just getting to be at levels that will change your cervix."

Answer 1

1
Explanation: 1. With each contraction, the muscles of the upper uterine segment shorten and exert a longitudinal traction on the cervix, causing effacement. Effacement is the taking up (or drawing up) of the internal os and the cervical canal into the uterine side walls.