Questions asked about pain free labour 2

Why is my cervix not dilating when I am having contractions?
This is the question that I get asked the most. Women start having contractions and become stressed cos they think they will be in a lot of pain during their labour. This stress leads to the automatic production of the hormone adrenalin. Adrenalin receptor sites are present on the cervix. The role of these receptor sites is to protect the baby from being born whenever there is a danger present that will cause mum to secrete adrenalin. Modern mums are taught to fear labour for the pain they think they will suffer so the adrenalin produced attaches itself to the cervix and stops it opening. See the post -Why labour hurts 3.
 Labour is not meant to last days and days. Sometimes it is a simple matter of the baby being too big and not fitting in the maternal pelvis, this is often known before labour starts and the labour sill be watched carefully. Other times it is a matter of not giving the uterus enough energy to burn by not eating small regular meals in labour, carbs are the best. Most of the time a long labour is caused by adrenalin holding the cervix closed cos mum is producing abnormal amounts. See the post - Relax with progressive muscle relaxation, for the method I used for my pain free first stage of labour. See the post - The second. Getting to 10 cm dilated has never been so much fun. xx.