Historically, labor has been discussed in stages and in a linear fashion. We have often referred to labor as a growing process, always increasing in power and always increasing in physical signs of labor progression (dilatation, station, effacement). Although I have adopted this philosophy for years, I have recently been questioning the truth around it. Through the many labors I have quietly sat through, observing the woman move through her labor, I often see women moving in and out of strength in contractions, forward and backward in dilatation and babies going up and down in the pelvis. I have also witnessed women going into a transitional type stage of labor and then back out again. Only to watch her at some later time, go back into this intensity we call “transition” to see if she wants to stay there or back out again. Many times, women will experience moments of this intense, overwhelming part of labor and then I watch her move into a more peaceful state for a few hours. Often times, I can notice in these situations that her physical labor progression signs will follow her willingness to go into “transition” and stay there. This has got me rethinking the whole linear concept of the stages of labor. It seems like it might be more accurate to say that labor is more circular and spiral like a labyrinth and much less like climbing a mountain. Unless of course, you were climbing around and up the mountain in a circular motion and that would be a closer analogy.
As labor circles around, laboring women unfold various aspects of the labor and birth. Everything happens in just the right “time” as it is very noticeable that the time experienced at birth has been said to stand still, stretch or even feel condensed. Many women report in labor feeling outside of space and time, not feeling very oriented with time at all. As a matter of fact, in the depths of labor, many women have no idea what time it is! As a doula, there have been many occasions where linear time didn’t seem to fit into the experience. One particular experience I remember writing down notes about when different events where occurring. As I would review the notes and look at the time I wrote down next to them, I would be shocked. What was 20 minutes would feel like 2 hours. I kept double checking my notes but it continued to happen through the entire birth. I felt like I was in a time warp and there was nothing linear about it.
Letting go of linear thinking and embracing this circular concept may take some time to take hold in the birth community, but for those of us who have sat through thousands of hours of birthing, it cannot go unnoticed that events don’t always unfold in the way the books say it should and time can play tricks on our minds.
