Why won’t this labor start properly?

This post discusses onset of labor. A woman is commonly considered in labor when her cervix is progressively opening and continuing to open. Stages of labor are the first stage of cervical dilation, the second stage of “pushing” or until the actual birth...

Checking dilation without being ‘checked’

One of the biggest repeat questions a doula/caregiver can hear during labor and birth is ‘how far along am I’. Some women would prefer not to know, some women could care less, and some women desire this knowledge almost habitually. As with any intervention in labor...