The active phase of labor is complete when your cervix is open wide enough to accommodate the baby’s head (about ten centimeters, or four inches) or there is full or complete dilation. Around this time, you will likely feel a strong urge to begin pushing your baby out the final few inches. Often, after transition and just before you feel like pushing or bearing down, your contractions may space out or even stop for a while, allowing you to rest.

The contractions were coming hard, [but] … More