rest and be thankful

Have you heard of the Rest and Be Thankful phase of labour? If not, you want to know about this before your birth!

Labour and birth is rarely a linear process that fits neatly into boxes or checklists or graphs drawn up by researchers (I’m looking at you Dr. Friedman).

Labour is a completely individual process for each person, and is affected largely by their environment, how safe they feel, how kindly they’re spoken to, how loved they feel – all factors which are not taken into consideration in academic research.

Many people find that near the end of labour, when their cervix has dilated all it needs to, their body pauses before they get the urge to push. The contraction pattern slows down a little, and there is no need for concern.

This moment is called “Rest and Be Thankful” – which serves as a reminder of what your body is doing for you in that moment.

Your uterus, your body, your mind has gone through a huge amount to get to this point. And before long, you will have a baby in your arms to love and look after. Before this stage of your baby entering the world, your body cleverly gives pause for you to rest, recover and catch your breath.

This is often construed as “failure to progress” or a stalled labour and can lead to interventions. But if baby is well and happy, and you are well and happy, there is no reason to rush.

You may consider taking the time to rest, and trusting that contractions will begin again soon enough, and you will feel the urge to push exactly when you need to.

Did you find this blog post useful? Share with your pregnant friends so they learn all about nature’s clever way of helping us during birth!