Things to discuss with your caregiver

› Every caregiver will handle a slow labour differently. Find out what your caregiver considers to be a slow labour and how it would be handled.

› You may want to discuss the possibility of using natural labour stimulation techniques, such as nipple stimulation or acupressure, before trying medicated labour stimulation techniques.

› If you choose to use artificial oxytocin as a way to speed up labour, understand that there is currently no evidence that high or rapidly escalating doses of oxytocin are any more effective at producing a baby than more moderate approaches. The moderate approaches may keep you more comfortable.

› For many women, cervical dilation does not happen according to the 1cm per hour rule. Sometimes things can happen that slow down labour too much or stop it completely. If you feel that there is change and you are progressing according to the emotional markers for progress, you may want to discuss with your caregiver the possibility of putting off intervention for an hour or two. This may be the time your body needs to get over the hump and begin dilating.

› Once labour has started, you typically go through a series of stages before birthing your baby. For each woman, these stages may be faster or slower than what’s considered “the norm”.

If you experience failure to progress in labour, the steps your doctor may take to treat it will depend on the reasons why labour has slowed or stopped.

You may want to discuss the possibility of failure to progress with your doctor before you go into labour, so that you understand the various management options that may be appropriate should the situation arise. YP