Stages of Labour Explained: What Happens During Birth and What to Expect (Session Four)
- Hannah Ketcher
- Apr 8
- 3 min read
Updated: 7 days ago
As you move further through your pregnancy and preparation, this stage of the course brings everything together.
We begin to focus on the birth itself — helping you understand what happens during labour, what your options are, and how everything you’ve learned so far can support you on the day.
Choosing Where to Give Birth
We begin by exploring the different places you can give birth, and what each option might look like in practice. This may include:
Home birth
Midwife-led units
Hospital settings
Each environment offers something slightly different. Understanding these options, what's available and what isn't, can help you feel clear about what feels right for you.
The Stages of Labour
Understanding the stages of labour helps you recognise what’s happening — so you feel less uncertain and more able to work with your body as labour progresses.
First Stage: Opening the Cervix
This is when your cervix gradually softens, shortens, and opens in preparation for birth.
Second Stage: Birthing Your Baby
This is the stage where your baby moves down through your pelvis and is born.
Third Stage: Birth of the Placenta
After your baby is born, your body continues working to birth the placenta.
Understanding these stages can help labour feel more familiar, rather than unknown.
Breathing Your Baby Out
We revisit breathing techniques, this time focusing on down breathing — sometimes described as “breathing your baby out.”
This builds on what you’ve already learned and gives you a practical way to:
Work with your body
Reduce tension
Support the natural process of birth in a more gentle way for your baby than directed pushing
Understanding Care During Labour
During labour, there may be different types of care offered depending on your situation.
We explore these so that you feel informed and prepared, rather than caught off guard. This includes:
Different ways of monitoring your baby (such as intermittent listening or continuous monitoring)
A range of comfort options (both non-pharmaceutical and pharmaceutical)
Situations where additional support may be needed (including instrumental births)
The aim is not to overwhelm, but to help you feel familiar with what might be offered — so that you can make decisions with confidence.
...make decisions with confidence.
The First Moments After Birth
We finish by focusing on those first moments after your baby is born — often referred to as the golden hour.
This is a unique window of time where you and your baby can:
Stay close in skin-to-skin
Begin feeding if you choose to
Adjust gently to life outside the womb
Understanding this can help you protect that space as much as possible, even within different birth settings.
Bringing It All Together
By this stage, the aim is not for you to know everything perfectly. It’s to help you feel:
Grounded in your understanding
Familiar with what may happen
Confident in your ability to navigate birth
A Final Reassurance
Birth can feel like a big unknown. But as you begin to understand what is happening in your body, and what your options are, it often becomes something that feels more manageable — and even something you can approach with a sense of calm and trust.
you can approach [birth] with a sense of calm and trust.
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