What it feels like If you've opted for pain relief, by this time you may have had an epidural , which means you'll feel pressure, rather than pain, in your pelvic area. If you're going the drugless route, the real work of labour has begun. Breathing exercises and relaxation techniques are helpful at this point, and you partner will be able to help you remember how to use them. You'll be able to change positions and move around the room if you choose, enlisting gravity as a labour aid. This is a good time to take a warm shower or bath, if you have access to one.
Warm water can really help ease the pain of actual labour.
It's not uncommon for a woman to sink into a bath tub when she's five or six centimetres dilated, relax, and be fully dilated an hour later. What happens During the transitional phase, the cervix dilates from eight cms to 10cms at an average rate of one cm every 15 minutes. How long it lasts This stage goes much more quickly than the first two, lasting anywhere from 15 minutes to two hours. What it feels like Even if you've had an epidural, you'll feel much more pressure now. If you're going au natural, this is the most transcendental phase of labour, with contractions coming hard and fast and symptoms that might include shaking, shivering, and nausea.