Try being upright One of your biggest allies is gravity. When you are upright—standing, sitting or kneeling—the weight of your baby presses on the cervix, encouraging it to open.
Side-lying release
Not only can this position be used to help engage the baby into the pelvis and to encourage cervical dilation, but it can also be used during labor to help ease discomfort.
According to Brichter, sitting on an exercise or birthing ball in neutral wide-legged positions prepares the body for labor by increasing blood flow, opening the pelvis, and encouraging cervical dilation. You can also try birth ball exercises such as circular hip rotations, rocking, and gentle bouncing.
Remaining upright and leaning forward reduces this pressure while allowing the baby's head to constantly bear down on your cervix. As a result, dilation tends to occur more quickly.
When we sit on the toilet, we naturally let our pelvic floor relax. When we allow these muscles to soften, all of the hard work our uterus is doing pays off by allowing our cervix to thin, dilate, and get us closer to meeting our baby.
The cervix generally needs to be dilated to 10 centimeters before it's ready for the baby to pass through. Your cervix can be dilated to a couple of centimeters for a few weeks before delivery. This softening can cause the mucus plug to be dislodged and come out.
The cervix can be dilated to 1 centimeter for weeks before the beginning of labor. This extent of dilation only signals that the cervix is starting to prepare for labor. Most pregnant women spend some time wondering when they will go into labor, especially as the due date draws near.
Getting up and moving around may help speed dilation by increasing blood flow. Walking around the room, doing simple movements in bed or chair, or even changing positions may encourage dilation. This is because the weight of the baby applies pressure to the cervix.
Cervical dilation and labor
During labor, intense contractions of the uterus help move the baby down and eventually out of the pelvis, and into the vagina. These contractions put pressure on the cervix and cause it to expand slowly.
Medical cervical ripening
Medications also can be given to help induce softening and dilatation of the cervix. Oral or vaginal suppository drugs, such as misoprostol and other prostaglandins, are also commonly used to ripen the cervix.
“Unfortunately no matter how badly you want your baby to come out you cannot make your cervix dilate,” Dr.
Theoretically, the unequal walking pattern created by the curb causes the pelvis to open and allows the baby's head to descend. When the baby's head is deeper into the pelvis, there is more pressure on the cervix, causing dilation and effacement. This uneven walk should be done for about 10 minutes.
Climbing stairs opens your pelvis, allowing baby to come down and further engage, pressing on your cervix to facilitate dilation. The back-and-forth uneven tilting motion that stair climbing causes also helps baby shift and rotate.
There are no proven safe ways for a woman to break her water at home. It can be dangerous if the water breaks before natural labor begins or before the baby is fully developed. During the natural process of labor, the water breaks when the baby's head puts pressure on the amniotic sac, causing it to rupture.
Reasons Your Cervix Isn't Dilating
It's possible your contractions just aren't strong enough to pull the cervix open. If things aren't happening naturally, your doctor may want to induce labor.
It may be hard to talk or move easily. At this point, your cervix will be dilated 3 to 10 centimeters. (Dilating one centimeter an hour is textbook, but like in early labor, it's different for everyone.) If you're opting for an epidural, the time is…now!
Changes in your vaginal discharge
Even if the mucus plug stays intact, you may notice other changes to your vaginal discharge. “It can become more watery, stickier and thicker, or maybe a little pink before labor begins or at the early stages of labor,” says Dr. Emery.
The Bed Rest Controversy
"Patients who are on limited activity contract less, so they feel better," she says. And it can reduce a woman's anxiety about her pregnancy and in some cases stop or slow cervical dilation.
One method for inducing labor that frequently shows up is taking a hot bath. Unfortunately, this is one that could be dangerous for pregnant women. There is also no evidence to support the theory that a hot bath will induce labor.