Prodromal Labour

**COPIED FROM LAUGHING MOON MIDWIFERY FACEBOOK PAGE**

(https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2510648369037361&substory_index=0&id=972711789497701)

Oh Prodromal Labor. You big, juicy tease. 

You often begin your striptease at night, stealing precious moments of much needed rest. Your rocking waves tantalize the notion that labor is beginning & the coming of your sweet baby. 

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Adrenaline and hope and rushes and possibly aching hips keep you awake. The desire to keep labor going drives you to bounce on balls, walk neighborhoods, eat all the spicy food & to avoid anything that might cause it to stop...warm baths, sleeping, holding still. 

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But then no matter how hard you attempt to fan the flames of labor. Everything slows & stops. Only to start hours or days later. On repeat. Rushes that squeeze and tighten, hips & pelvic bowl sore from the weight of your babe pressing down, your mind tired from the what-ifs, the timing of rushes, the internal thought process of what & why this is happening. 

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While no one knows exactly why prodromal labor occurs. I like to think of it as your final stages of ripening. Your waves that do not bring labor are like the warm sunshine warming the flesh of an almost ripe peach 🍑. With each day of warmth from the sun & gentle nudges from the breeze....the peach eventually reaches plump ripeness & it’s own juicy weight brings it to earth for our divine enjoyment. 

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Prodromal labor may not be what brings the baby but it is what brings your complete & total ripeness. It is the prostaglandin gel & balloons that modern medicine uses. It creates gentle waves of oxytocin that is the pitocin bag of modern medicine. Prodromal Labor isn’t false. It isn’t useless. It is based in physiology. It is Mother Nature leading the way as it always has. 

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Often, when one has experienced this “ripening” they find that when active labor begins, their progress is steady, quick, efficient. Because the ripening that has happened laid ground work, softening & shortening the cervix so that it gently yields to active labor rushes, opening with surrender. 

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I’d like to change the language. It’s not false. It’s not for nothing. Prodromal labor is the prototype for which we created labor inductions. It is the grandmother, the OG, of inductions. Physiological ripening. It’s a good thing, a positive thing. Our bodies are amazing!