Learn how your baby's birth is likely to progress with this guide to the stages of labour.
This stage is all about pushing. You may have a breif lull in contractions to allow your body and your baby to rest.
So when contractions resume they may be less frequent than they had been - one every three minutes on average. You should feel an overwhelming urge to push, but if you've had an epidural you'll feel less of an urge.
The midwife may want to check you are fully dilated - 10cm - before you start pushing, although often it is obvious that the time is right to do so because the urge is so strong.
For your first baby, the pushing stage can last around an hour, sometimes two. It is likely to be a lot less for subsequent babies.
