What to do In Early Labor, 8 Tips To Get You Through It!

Maybe you’ve heard the stories of labors that last 24 hours or more? Are you wondering how long labor is really going to be?

These 8 tips for surviving early labor will help put your mind at ease and keep you moving forward towards having your baby!

Number 1. Easy and Enjoyable Distractions For Early Labor

For many first time laboring moms the early sensations of labor are similar to menstrual cramping.

You probably can’t completely ignore it, but it’s nothing that requires your full attention.

This is where a good distraction can come in to play. As they say, a watched pot won’t boil 🙂

Number 2. Stay Nourished and Hydrated

Many mom’s wonder if they should continue to eat normally during early labor. Absolutely!! If your appetite is still good go ahead and eat what you normally would.

Labor is a marathon not a sprint so eating regularly helps to keep your energy up and your blood sugar stable.

It is a good idea to keep the food a bit on the simple side as labor progresses because some women experience nausea and or vomiting, which is totally normal and a part of the process.

Super smart labor snacks and drinks I recommend:

Electrolyte drinks It is very important to stay well hydrated during labor. keeping up with hydration can be a little easier with things like:

• Emergen-C ( there are many variations out there of this vitamin powder that you simply add to your water)
• Vitamin Water
• Coconut water
• Herbal Tea
• Fruit Juice
• Nuun Tablets
• Gatorade/ sports drinks – Typical sports drinks like gatorade can sometimes be too much flavor during labor but if you have one that you love it can’t hurt to have it on hand.
• Laborade – From Dr. Sears’ The Pregnancy Book

1/3 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup honey
1/4 – 1/2 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1-2 calcium tablets, crushed

Food/Snacks: You might not feel like eating a full sized meal during early labor but you’ll need to keep your energy up and keep nausea and heartburn at bay.

If a meal does sound good, by all means eat! Again, thinking about the long haul and foods that will sustain your energy.

Sometimes a boost of sugar can really help when you can’t actually eat a meal or something more substantial.

• Honey sticks
• Popsicles/Fruit bars
• Yogurt/Frozen yogurt
• Fruit- frozen grapes are so good!
• Protein bars, fruit, nut, granola bars
• Crackers – Saltine/Graham
• Simple Soups or broths/miso – bring a thermos of something delicious and warm with you to the hospital!
• Applesausce
• Peanut or Nut Butter
• Cheese Sticks

Number 3. Find Balance Between Resting and Moving

Sometimes it can be hard to know what to do during early labor, should you rest because you’re feeling tired, or keep moving to try and get labor progressing?

Early labor can be long, you don’t want to wear yourself out before active labor begins.

You also don’t want to be pregnant forever so you need to spend some time in upright, gravity friendly positions such as walking, climbing steps, sitting on a birth ball, etc., to encourage active labor.

The resting part can be challenging when you are experiencing discomfort and especially when more rhythmic, consistent contractions start happening.

For most women lying on their back during early labor is very uncomfortable.

Lying on your side is another option but if that is also uncomfortable my favorite resting position for getting through early labor is a modified child’s pose. ZoomZee shows a picture of what this can look like.

You’re going to use a lot of pillows to support yourself in child’s pose position so you can rest and then move up to hands and knees as needed during a contraction.

Most often women gravitate to a hands and knees or forward leaning position to cope with early labor.

---

---

Number 4. Don’t time the contractions yet

Until the cramping sensations become more rhythmic, consistent and painful you don’t need to time anything. Putting a lot of emphasis on trying to time contractions will cause undo stress.

Worrying if you are in labor or not is also a waste of energy.

Trust me, you will absolutely know when the type of contractions that are actively dilating your cervix have come.

You will not unknowingly pass the point in labor for getting to the hospital, I promise.

Read more about this in my post on how to know when you are in active labor and when to go to the hospital.

Number 5. Maybe Don’t Text Everyone Right Away That You’re in Labor

Let it be just the two of you for a little bit longer.

It’s impossible not to feel excited and great anticipation when you feel the first twangs of labor coming on, hence, this list to help you come up with a plan for getting through early labor.

If you let people know right away then they will be calling…a LOT!

Moms, you have a good excuse for not getting back to people, your partner, however, will be hounded too and if they respond and get stuck on the phone or feel obligated to keep everyone informed… that is going to be a big problem!

So unless you want people to worry and ask lots of questions I suggest waiting until perhaps you’re ready to go to the hospital, or at least closer to that point.

Or after the baby is born even…it’s up to you!

Number 6. Get In The Mood

Oxytocin, aka, the love hormone is the hormone released when having an orgasm.

So the way that you got the baby in there, is the way you’re going to get them out! Create an environment that would, under different circumstances, put you in the mood for sex!

Dim lighting, candles, music, essential oils, snuggling and cuddling with your partner. Have pictures of the two of you around the room so that love is reflected back to you wherever you look.

Have those adorable baby outfits around the room reminding you what you’re doing this for! If flowers are your thing, now is the time to indulge in bouquets for yourself.

Hire someone to come and clean your home a week or so before your due date, give yourself the treat of coming home to a clean house so all you need to do is set the stage for relaxing into labor.

Number 7. Early Labor Matters!!

Let’s not call it FALSE labor, there is no such thing as a false contraction.

You may be having contractions and not dilating yet or the contractions stop and start again later but those contractions were definitely real!

Don’t let anyone take away all the hard work you put into early labor.

Even if it takes a long time for your cervix to start dilating, each contraction is doing something and each contraction counts!!

Number 8. Establish the three R’s in Early Labor so you can take that with you to the hospital

Penny Simkin, PT is an author, doula, childbirth educator and co-founder of DONA, the largest doula certifying organization in North America.

She brought the doula profession into the forefront of maternity care and has been an advocate for birthing families for many years.

She developed what she calls the 3 R’s, Relaxation, Rhythm and Ritual. This goes back to number 6 and setting the stage for allowing oxytocin to flow.

Contractions are happening and now you move on to the next step which is the three R’s.

One of the things that can be difficult about labor is not knowing what to expect, how long labor is going to be and wondering, “how much worse is this going to get”?

Establishing a rhythm helps mom stay in the moment and take labor one contraction at a time.

Women respond to labor using rhythmic movements or vocalizations that then turn into a ritual that she can count on. It’s her roadmap through the contractions.

For example, you might sit on the birth ball slowly rocking your hips side to side and making a long “oooooh” sound through each contraction. Then when the contraction is over you stop and rest your head on the bed.

Your body naturally found this rhythm and it feels good, it’s helping you get through the contractions. Now this is a part of your labor ritual. You will be able to try this in different positions and or come back to this later on.

In early labor you want to try on lots of different relaxation techniques to find the ones that feel natural for you and that you can count on to become a part of your labor coping ritual.

Some of the techniques women use can be sitting on a ball or rocking chair and rocking back and forth, leaning forward from hands and knees onto the birth ball and swaying hips side to side, tapping rhythmically with their hands or feet, squeezing and releasing an object or someone’s hand, and vocalizing.

If you think about the contractions as energy building in your body that energy needs to be released through your breath, your voice and moving your body.

Letting that energy move through you and out is what leads to relaxation and the optimization of relaxation between the contractions.

Keeping the energy in due to fear makes contractions more intense.

When the contraction is over take a deep breath in through your nose and let it out through your mouth with a big sigh. Let the contraction be over, rest and do nothing. Let your body melt and relax.

Put these tips for early labor into motion and you’ll be sure to have an easier transition into active labor and birth!

Related Articles By Bridgetown Doula

~Wondering when you should go to the hospital when you’re in labor? Get all the info you need here.

~Discover the 8 must have newborn items that will make your life easier!