When Should I Call My Midwife, Doula, and Birth Photographer?

When you are pregnant and coming to a point where baby could come any day, and your body starts having lots of odd sensations that may make you wonder if baby is coming near. So how do you know when it is actually time to call your midwife, your doula, and/or your birth photographer?

Let me help you out!

First of all, its important to know the signs that labor may potentially be happening within the next couple of weeks or days. While everyone’s body is different, there are a few things that you can look for.

Baby may feel low in the pelvis (but not always!)
You may have more irregular, practice contractions (braxton-hicks).
You may have more back pain
Your body may start to empty out (aka..diarrhea) to make room for baby to move through the pelvic floor
Bloody show may make its appearance!
You may experience the “lightening crotch” feeling as baby drops lower in the pelvis and puts pressure on your nerves
Your joints may become more flexible as the hormone relaxin is released to prepare you for labor

Ideally, once you start showing signs that labor may be approaching soon, you would let your team know.

That way, they can plan ahead for childcare, charge their camera batteries, clear their SD cards, and get a go-bag ready with whatever gear/snacks/extras they might want to bring with them.

Early labor can last for days, especially if you are one to have prodromal labor (and, by the way, if you are dealing with this, I am SO sorry. It can be pretty miserable. I highly recommend asking a doula or a midwife for some help at this point, because most likely, baby isn’t sitting quite in the right position, so its your body’s way of attempting to get baby situated correctly and/or holding off on the birth until baby IS in the best position.) Doulas and midwives have ways of showing you how to help get baby in the best position so that labor can potentially progress quicker and go smoother, potentially even avoiding things like c-sections )

Once you start showing signs of ACTIVE labor, it is time to contact them in whatever way is best! ACTIVE labor will look like:

REGULAR contractions that last for about a minute, are at least 5 minute apart, and are steady or progressing for one hour. If your contractions are irregular, most likely, you are experiencing prodromal labor. Also know that if you are having a hard time talking through contractions, its a pretty good sign.
You may notice yourself start swaying and breathing through these contractions and having a harder time responding to things that are going on around you. They may become stronger and stronger. (And don’t worry, I haven’t been to a birth yet where contractions didn’t happen and baby just slipped out. Your body needs to have them.)
You will progress to around a 5-6 dilation–at this point, its probably time for your photographer/doulas/midwives to show up if they haven’t already!