Going Into Labor: Cervix Dilation

Video Transcript

Another thing that's happening while your body is in labor is that your cervix, in addition to effacing is also dilating. Dilating is in centimeters. So a woman is going to go from zero to ten and she has to be at ten centimeters to have a baby. So she's going to be at ten centimeters and a hundred percent effaced to have a baby. Some women start off and they're already dilated before they go into labor. But most women, what's happened is they go from zero to three centimeters in early, first stage labor. They're going to go from four to seven centimeters in active first stage labor. And they're going to go from seven to ten centimeters in transition. Once they're at ten centimeters, and they're a hundred percent effaced, then they can start pushing the baby out. As a woman's cervix effaces and dilates, everything is opening up. It has to make room for the baby's head to go through. Since it's opening up, there's going to be more blood coming out. There's going to be more fluids coming out. And that's normal and that's a good thing because that means that everything is opening up. If there's any large amount of blood that comes out, then that's need to be concerned. But smaller amounts is completely normal and that's definitely what's going to happen. So this is actually true to life on how large your cervix is going to get. This is two centimeters; this is four centimeters, six centimeters, eight centimeters, and ten centimeters. So your cervix is actually going to open up this big to let the baby come through. So cervation, I'm sorry, effacement and dilation actually work together. They're going to be happening at the same time. So this, the baby is zero percent effaced and zero dilation. This is fifty percent effaced and about two to three dilated. This is ninety percent effaced and about five centimeters dilated. And this is a hundred percent effaced with about nine centimeters dilated. So the woman has one more centimeter to go, and then she can start pushing her baby out. So one of the things that's happening when you're in labor is that your cervix is dilating.

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