The active phase of labor includes active labor and transition. This phase begins at about the time when cervical dilation starts to pick up in pace, which is usually somewhere around 6 cm dilation. In this phase, the cervix will dilate from 6 cm to 10 cm. How long it takes to dilate up to 10 cm is unique to each woman, but usually goes like this: As compared to the sluggish pace of early labor, it only takes an average of 48 minutes for a first-time mom to dilate from 5 cm to 6 cm. Dilation from 6 cm to 7 cm goes even faster — an average of 36 minutes. At 7 cm dilation, it’s not long till birth. From there on out, most women will dilate about 1 cm every 30 minutes until the cervix is finally 10 cm dilated. In total, active labor when the cervix dilates from 5 cm to 10 cm can last about 4.5 hours for a first-time mom and 2.5 hours for a mom who has given birth before. A quick heads-up: If you’re beyond 6 cm dilated and haven’t dilated at all in 4 hours, your doctor might recommend breaking your water or try speeding things up with pitocin. Be sure to learn all about these options in your natural childbirth class.