 There are three stages of labor. The first stage is the process of your body getting you dilated completely, which is 10 centimeters of dilation. And that can be a very long, drawn-out, uncomfortable process, especially with your first baby. Most women have painful contractions or tightening of the belly that get increasingly intense over time. We recommend you don't go to the hospital in that early phase. So that's the time you can try to get a lot of rest at home, stay hydrated, be in your own bed or your own shower. Before your contractions are very regular, very intense, we really recommend that you ignore them as much as you possibly can. Time to come on in is when they're occurring about every five minutes or closer. They're really uncomfortable, takes their breath away, they're breathing through them, they can't complete a sentence, they're sweating through them, then head on into the hospital. Now, if it's your second or your third baby, sometimes you might be further along when you hit those contractions every five minutes for an hour. So if it's your second or your third baby and you're starting to have contractions that are more intense and they're coming even every seven minutes for an hour, you should probably start to come in and get your cervix checked. Once you come into the hospital, the contractions will be stronger because generally then you're in active labor. And what you want to do after that is completely up to you and we're here to help you achieve what you are hoping for in your labor experience. The second stage of labor is when your cervix is completely dilated, which means 10 centimeters dilated. And at that point you could start to push. That's the work of getting that baby out. So for first moms, that can be many hours of pushing. For moms that have had vaginal births before, it can be very few pushes. It really varies on your experience, the size of your pelvis, how strong you push, the size of the baby, the position of the baby. After three and a half hours of pushing, you could start to see the crown of the baby's head and that was amazing and I saw his face and his body and I got to cut the umbilical cord and she got ahold of the baby and it was just an emotional, happy time. You just can't believe it. It was your first time, you know. The third stage of labor is after the baby is born, we'll put him or her skin to skin right on your chest. The uterus starts to expel the placenta while you work on bonding with your child.