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Before labor begins
Induce labor after 42 weeks if woman has not gone into labor.
The cervix is its normal size and shape.
Medicine is used to induce labor. -
First Stage of Labor
Contractions make the cervix dilate, or widen.
The cervix becomes thinner, changing form its usual thickness of about 3/4 inch (19 mm) to become as thin as a sheet of paper.
The thinning is called effacement. -
Transition
Transition completes the work of the first stage.
The cervix becomes fully dialated to a size of 4 inches (10 cm) and the baby's head slips out of the uterus into the birth canal. -
Period: to
Days of Giving Birth
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Second Stage of Labor: Crowning
When teh top of the head appears at the opening of the birth canal, it is called crowning. -
Second Stage of Labor: Head Emerges
The baby's head emerges first.
The head has changed its shape to ease passage through the birth canal.
It will later return to normal.
After the head, the shoulders follow.
Then the rest of the baby slips out easily. -
Third Stage of Labor
The women gives birth to the placenta, no longer needed by the baby.
