Chorevia

Day 212 of 280 · 30 weeks + 2 days

The three stages

Last reviewed · 3 min read · 5 sources · Plain-text version

Thirty weeks and two days. Labour has three stages, and knowing their shape takes some of the fear out. Today you read them once and write three questions.

Size this week
about the size of a cabbage
Length this week
around 39.9 cm from head to heel
A couple at a café table by a rainy window, her in a navy sweater dress with a full bump reading from a printed page, him writing in a notebook, two cups between them.

Thirty weeks and two days. Labour is easier to face when it has a shape: a beginning, a middle and an end, each with its own job. This week's NHS list includes understanding what happens in labour and birth (NHS). Today is the outline.

Your baby

A single green cabbage on a plain pale wooden table, soft window light.

Around 39.9cm from head to heel, about the size of a cabbage (NHS). Their eyes can focus now, and their vision will keep developing inside the womb and after they're born (NHS).

Your body

The NICHD describes labour in three stages (NICHD):

  • Stage 1 is usually the longest and has two phases. In early labour, contractions last 30 to 60 seconds and come every 5 to 20 minutes, and this phase can last up to 20 hours, especially for a first birth. In active labour, contractions get stronger, longer and closer together, and the cervix opens faster.
  • Stage 2 starts when the cervix is fully open at 10 centimetres and you begin pushing. It can last from 20 minutes to several hours, usually longer for a first baby.
  • Stage 3 is the placenta. Contractions start again 5 to 10 minutes after the birth, and the placenta usually comes out in less than 30 minutes.

That's the map. Nobody's labour follows it exactly, and your provider will talk you through yours as it happens.

Try today

  1. The three-stages read

    Time: 15 minutes

    1. Read the three stages above once, slowly, out loud if your partner is with you.

    2. Under each stage, write one question you'd like answered: about pain relief, about pushing, about what happens straight after (NICHD).

    3. Take the three questions to your next appointment or antenatal class.

    4. Write the answers next to them, and keep the page with your birth plan.

    Make it work:

    If one stage scares you more than the others, start your questions there. Fear shrinks with detail.

Watch for

  • Normal

    painless, irregular tightenings that fade when you change what you're doing (OWH).

    Call your provider

    for contractions that get stronger at regular, shorter intervals, even if it's weeks before your due date, since it might be preterm labour (OWH).

  • Normal

    more discharge than earlier in pregnancy.

    Call your provider

    right away for leaking fluid, or vaginal bleeding beyond light spotting (MedlinePlus).

  • Normal

    quieter spells between busy ones.

    Call your provider

    if your baby's movement suddenly decreases and is still low after a snack and a few minutes lying down (MedlinePlus).

For you

The sources don't all use the same numbers, and it's worth knowing that. The Office on Women's Health puts the whole first stage at usually about 12 to 19 hours, the second at 20 minutes to two hours, and the third at five to 30 minutes (OWH). Ranges this wide mean one thing: there's no schedule you're failing to keep.

If you're the partner: stage 1 is usually the longest, so it's where you'll spend the most time (NICHD). Read it twice. Ask your provider what they'd like you to do and when to call.

Sources

This guide is general education that summarizes published research and guidance from groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics, the CDC, and the WHO. It isn’t medical advice, and every child develops on their own timeline. Your pediatrician knows your child; if something feels wrong, call them. In an emergency, call 911.

Get each day’s note the morning it applies

Add your due date to a free Chorevia household, and every morning until the birth the day's note arrives in the app and by email: what's forming, what your body is doing, one thing to try, what to watch for, and a word for you.

Create your household