Dilation and effacement are terms that doctors and other birth professionals use to describe the changes in the cervix that are required for vaginal birth. Even if you've heard these terms, you may ...

Near the end of the third trimester, the cervix will soften in order to begin the process of effacing (thinning and stretching) and dilating (opening up) in preparation for your baby's birth. An open ...

Near the end of the third trimester, a woman's cervix will soften in order to begin the process of effacing (thinning and stretching) and dilating (opening up). An open cervix allows the baby to pass ...

The cervix dilates (opens) during the first stage of labor to prepare for the baby's birth. Cervical dilation is measured from 1 to 10 centimeters. You are ready to push and deliver when the cervix ...

As your due date approaches, you may be wondering how dilated your cervix is and if you are making progress toward delivery. While only your doctor can confirm cervical dilation, you can do a ...

Only then can you bring your baby into the world. Cervical dilation sounds pretty intense, but if you are in labor, it's going to happen. The question is, how do you know if you're dilated and ready ...

There are 3 stages of labor. Active labor begins at about 5-6 cm of dilation. You need to be 10 cm dilated to deliver vaginally. After the birth, you’ll deliver the placenta. The cervix, which is the ...

Things that unfold in the labour room are quite unpredictable and most of the times they don t go as planned. This is why many women who plan for a vaginal birth might have to undergo a c-section ...

Cervical effacement is a term to describe thinning of the cervix, the lower end of your uterus that connects with your vagina. This thinning occurs before and during labor and helps prepare your ...

A maternity hospital has shared a graph of Easter eggs depicting cervix dilation to help people understand what happens during birth. The graph, which was created by the parenting blog KalmaBaby, was ...