The Goal Isn't to Get to 10 cm, it's to Have a Baby

We tend to place a lot of focus on dilation during labour and reaching that milestone of 10 cm (full dilation), however, it can be easy to forget that the biggest goal is to finally have that baby!

In order for your baby to be born, your cervix must efface and dilate, yes, but your baby also plays a role in their birth. In order to navigate through the pelvis, the baby makes 7 movements called cardinal movements. They are:

1) Engage

2) Decent

3) Flexion (chin tucked)

4) Internal Rotation

5) Extention (chin up)

6) External Rotation