When a woman goes into labor, she enters what is usually called the "dilation phase", which is no more than the time that passes since the contractions begin and the dilation begins until the moment of expulsion, when the baby is already going to get out.
The dilation phase is divided into two, the latent phase and the active phase, which have a more or less concrete duration, which can be used to evaluate possible subsequent actions.
The duration of these phases is really very variable, since it depends for example on the number of children the mother has and also depends on other factors. In spite of this variability, it is tried to determine an approximate duration from which it would be convenient to assess if the delivery progresses properly or if there is any problem that was slowing the progression of the birth. For this reason it could be useful for professionals and especially for mothers, know how long the dilation phases last in childbirth, more than anything, to speak both in the same "language".
Defining the latent phase and the active dilation phase
The latent phase It begins at the moment when labor begins. It is characterized by the presence of variable contractions in intensity and duration and are accompanied by cervical erasure and slow progression of dilation until reaching 4 cm dilation.
The active phase arrives after the latent, at the time that increases the regularity, intensity and frequency of contractions. All this makes the dilation progress faster than in the previous phase. Is the period between 4 and 10 cm dilation.
How long do the dilation phases last in childbirth?
The duration of the dilation phases has always been considered a very important and compromising factor for both the health of the mother and the baby. I think we all know women who induced labor because "you are going very slowly" or "you have been here for many hours" and yet it seems that the length of time a delivery is not so decisive in light of current evidence. Nonetheless, it is recommended to set a time limit from which it would be necessary to assess whether there could be a problem in the evolution of labor.
With respect to the latent phase of dilation, a time limit has not been determined due to how difficult it can be to objectively know when the labor begins.
For the active phase, we have talked about times, but considering that there may be obvious differences between primiparous moms and multiparous moms.
In the primiparous mothers it is established that the average duration of the active phase (dilatation from 4 to 10 cm) it's 8 hours. The limit is set to 18 hours, it is considered unlikely that they will be exceeded.
For the multiparous moms the average duration of this stage is 5 hours and being unlikely to exceed 12 hours that are marked as limit from which we will have to rule out possible problems.
