first stage of labour BrE
first stage of labor AmE

Anna continued in the first stages of labour for 36 hours.

It did not find evidence of increased adverse effects for immersion during the first stages of labour.

This afternoon, doctors at a Bristol hospital disclosed that a baby there had died after the mother used a pool during the first stage of labour.

Traditional epidural for labour relieves pain reliably only during first stage of labour (uterine contractions till cervix is fully open).

Randomised controlled trial of labouring in water compared with standard of augmentation for management of dystocia in first stage of labour.

Hyoscine butylbromide is effective in significantly reducing the duration of the first stage of labour, and it is not associated with any obvious adverse outcomes in mother or neonate.

A 2009 Cochrane Review of water immersion in the first stages of labour found evidence of fewer epidurals and few adverse effects but insufficient information regarding giving birth in water.

Briefly, they showed that the use of continuous electronic fetal heart rate monitoring caused higher rates of medical intervention including caesarean section during the first stage of labour and instrumental vaginal delivery during the second.

This predicted 91% of fetuses who became distressed in the first stage of labour, and combination with ultrasonographic estimation of the volume of amniotic fluid improved prediction to 100% with only a slight fall in specificity.

It includes two components: regular epidural to cover pain during first stage of labour and spinal injection of hyperbaric Tetracaine to cover pain during second stage of labour, pain from vaginal examinations and Foley catheter insertion.

The first stage of labour (or "active phase of first stage" if previous phase is termed "latent phase of first stage") is generally defined as starting when the effaced (thinned) cervix is 3 cm or 4 cm dilated.