Am I In Labor? | When To Call Your Birth Photographer

While I don’t typically join my clients until they are in active labor, I ask all of my clients to notify me with a phone call as soon as they think they're in labor…

Even if you aren’t sure. False alarms are 100% ok.

I want to get ready in early labor so that I can quickly and easily join you once you are in active labor. The last thing I want is to be scrambling to make sure childcare is confirmed and to double-check that my gear is all present and accounted for when you are in active labor. By the time you reach that point, I want to be able to grab my packed bags, kiss my kids on the cheek, and hop into the car within a few minutes time. Getting a head's up is crucial to this happening.

HOW DO I KNOW I AM IN LABOR AND WHEN SHOULD I CALL YOU?

Please hear me when I say this…It doesn’t matter if you KNOW you are in labor or not. If you call, text or wake up your partner to say “I think this might be it!”, you should be calling me too. DO. NOT. WAIT. I promise I will forgive you if it’s a false alarm…or the 14th false alarm.

WHEN WILL I ARRIVE AT YOUR BIRTH?

My goal is to arrive once you’re in a well-established active labor pattern. What is active labor? Well, there isn’t exactly an easy answer. Here are a few things to consider:

• Your Contraction Pattern

  If you’re a first-time mom, we’re looking for a pattern of contractions 3 minutes apart, lasting for one minute. If you’ve given birth before, look for contractions that are 5-6 minutes apart, lasting for one minute. Consistently, for about an hour.

• Contraction Strength
  During active labor, most women struggle to walk/talk during contractions. You may/may not be coherent between contractions and many women vocalize through deep breathing, moaning, or humming. Advise your partner to look for these signs and know them as an indication that I should be called in.

• Dilation
  Generally, if the cervix is more than 5 centimeters dilated, I want to be there. However, this is not a very reliable indicator as it is entirely possible to go from 4cm to pushing in less than 30 minutes 

• Precipitous Birth 
  Precipitous births rarely happen to first-time moms but are especially common for second-time moms. You should be aware of these signs that your baby’s birth may happen quickly.

1. Water breaking during an established contraction pattern

2. Contractions that START suddenly at 2-3 minutes apart and are very strong

3. Rectal pressure during contractions (feeling like you are going to poop)

Hopefully, that gives you (and your partner who should also be reading this) a better idea of what active labor looks like. From here, we’ll use typical labor patterns to help us anticipate when I should plan to join you. This is a HUGE guessing game, so it is important to keep me updated on your progress with a check-in every couple of hours.

TYPICAL LABOR PATTERN: 1ST TIME MOM

• Early labor: Lasts anywhere from 6-48 hours. Contractions are usually more than six minutes apart and are generally manageable. Many women can comfortably eat, work, and rest during early labor. 

• Active labor: Lasts anywhere from 4-8 hours. Contractions are usually less than 5 minutes apart, are too strong to continue normal activities or rest through, and grow more intense as time passes. 

• Transition: Lasts usually 30 minutes to 1 hour and occurs near the end of active labor. Signs of transition are feeling like you need to vomit, shaking, and starting to feel increased pressure with each contraction (especially in the rectum). 

• Pushing: Lasts anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours.

TYPICAL LABOR PATTERN: 2ND TIME OR MORE MOM (MULTIPAROUS)

• Early labor: May start days or weeks before baby's birthday. Prodromal labor (false labor), where contractions seem active but never intensify can be especially frustrating and confusing. Typically, these false labor contractions happen when the woman is at rest and peter out when she becomes more active. If you aren’t sure, try taking a walk and seeing if your contractions stay steady/intensify or dwindle.

• Active labor: Usually lasts for 2-4 hours. Contractions are usually less than 5 minutes apart, are strong, and grow more intense as time pasts. 

• Transition: Still occurs near the end of active labor, but is often much quicker and sometimes less obvious. 

• Pushing: Also usually much quicker.

PATTERN VARIATIONS

• A posterior presentation or otherwise poorly positioned baby can produce VERY intense contractions with very little progress. A posterior presentation is commonly described as ‘back labor’, because moms with posterior babies tend to feel contractions in their back as opposed to their stomach. Women with malpositioned babies typically labor much longer and push for much longer. 

• Induced labor typically behaves differently than a natural labor. Cytotec may be used as a cervical ripener before Pitocin is introduced. For some women, Cytotec alone is enough to bring on intense contractions and a very fast birth. For most though, this ripening phase is lengthy. Once the cervix has dilated sufficiently, Pitocin is usually introduced to bring on contractions. These contractions are not the gradual build we see with natural labor. They can be very intense and very close together for long periods of time. Multiparous women (meaning not a first-time mom) tend to have much shorter inductions and Pitocin can send them from 4/5 cm to ready to push in less than an hour

EPIDURALS

This one gets its own subsection because epidurals always throw a wrench into the ‘when should I go guessing game’. Epidural births are the ones that I most fear missing because many of the typical signs of progression are hidden. We always hear about epidurals slowing down labor…but in my experience the opposite is more often true. Because you can’t feel your contractions, delivery can often sneak up and take everyone by surprise. Additionally, frequent cervical checks have fallen out of favor due to the increased risk of introducing infection, so there is little by which to mark progress. By the time women start feeling pressure, the baby's head is usually quite low and ready to be born. I’ve had more than a few frantic ‘we’re ready to push’ calls, when at the last update it was still too early for me to go.

THE TAKEAWAYS

In general (and in Pensacola), I need about an hour minimum to get out the door and to your bedside ready to shoot. Longer if I am commuting to a birthplace further away. Ideally, I want to arrive in time to capture you working through labor. However, the last thing you need is me sitting in your birth space for 6-8 hours with nothing happening. So it is really crucial that you notify me early and update me often, even if nothing has changed, so that I can gauge the progress of your labor and have a better idea of when to arrive. Check in with your body and make sure your partner or support person knows the signs and when to update me.

Time moves differently in labor. Hours can feel like minutes. So set a timer and make sure to check in with your birth photographer every couple of hours. To help everyone out, I’ve made this handy printable