This is what I found and liked: http://www.birthingnaturally.net/birth/transition.html What is Transition Like?
Not all
women have a transition, in fact 1/3 of women don’t seem to have a
specific time of transition. Another 1/3 of women claim that transition was not
any more difficult than the rest of labor, and 1/3 claim it was the worst part
of labor. Transition
is the time that your body is completing dilation and preparing to push your
baby out. It is generally very intense with contractions right on top of each other,
and sometimes with double peaks. But it is also the shortest part of labor,
generally lasting 15 minutes to half an hour. You will
recognize transition by the desire to give up. This is when women claim they
just can’t do it anymore. Most women begin to doubt their ability to go
on, and may seem to forget that they are in labor to give birth to a baby. This
is also the time in labor when most women ask for something to help them with
the pain. Transition
is also recognizable by various physical signs, which may or may not be present
at your labor. Some women get hot and cold flashes, cold sweats, nausea or
vomiting, shivering or shaking, hiccups, burping and a general inability to
feel comfortable in any position. This is the most common time for the bag of
waters to break naturally. When you begin to show these signs, it does not
matter if you are dilated to 1 or 10 centimeters, it means you are very close
to pushing your baby out. Many
women find that when vaginal exams are done to access cervical dilation
progress, their dilation is not uniform. Rather than dilating a centimeter
every hour or two, they will dilate to 4 or 6 or 7 and seem to stop for a few
hours. This does not mean that labor has stalled, as long as your contractions
continue to get more intense, closer together and longer simply prepare
yourself. Generally what happens is the body gets itself ready and then
suddenly dilates the rest of the way in two or three contractions! Even if
your caregiver is convinced that you have hours to go, do not listen. Instead
pay attention for the signs of transition. When you see them be assured that
you are nearly ready to push. Transition can happen at any point of the
cervical dilation chart. Do not depend on vaginal exams to tell you how long you
will labor; they simply are not accurate. Even if you have been given
medication to stimulate contractions, do not expect your body to conform to a
standard of dilation. You may also find yourself suddenly in transition before
your caregiver expected. © Copyright 2000-2004 Jennifer VanderLaan and Birthing
Naturally From:
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On Behalf Of Maxine Wilson Vedrana I vaguely remember reading something that I
found meaningful in Julia Sundin's Face to Face with Childbirth. Hope I
have the author and title correct - does anyone know? I haven't got it on
the bookshelf as it is on loan at the moment. Does anyone else remember a
transition description from it? I may be getting it confused with other
material but I thought she went into the fear and darkness elements of
transition. Maxine |
- RE: [ozmidwifery] transition Vedrana Valčić
- RE: [ozmidwifery] transition Vedrana Valčić
- Re: [ozmidwifery] transition Janet Fraser
- Re: [ozmidwifery] transition Jan Robinson