The latent phase of labor is, well really it's the whoo warming up for labor. So you'll probably have heard many people say to you I was in labor for four days. Where a bit will mean as midwives and doctors we count established labor as from when your cervix the neck of your womb opens up to four centimeters. So that's when you've been contracting regularly and painfully. And as I spoke of earlier probably every five minutes lasting 60 seconds.
But getting up to that point while your cervix is 3 centimeters long. And if you imagine that my hands are the cervix and my head was your baby's head what happens is you start to contract and you have some pain. And this cervix starts to shorten like that and then slowly all start to dilate.
Now this period here as a first-time mummy when your cervix is slowly opening up can take a while can take three or four days. In fact sometimes you'll think you're going into labor, you'll think yes they're getting regular, they're getting regular and then they'll just completely stop. This is the time that you hear people coming in in false labor.
It's not false labor, it's the latent phase of labor. Some women don't experience it, others have. You know three or four days of this that can keep them up at night and make them feel really tired. What we advise you to do is, have a warm bath, make sure you're eating well, get your husband to give you a massage or your friend. Just really be surrounded by people that love you and are going to support you and try and stay at home with you.
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