I had been taught that "true labor" begins at 3 cm dilation with contractions five minutes apart or closer, lasting 30 seconds or more. But it didn't seem fair to discount hours of early contractions, sometimes painful.
I explain that latent labor is often the longest and most frustrating part of labor: contractions are often strong enough to prevent sleep, but not strong enough to take your whole attention, thus making them quite frustrating. After the birth, I often say something like, "Well, you began labor last night, and had 12 hours of latent labor; then active labor began at noon today, and you had a five hour active labor with 45 minutes of pushing. That's excellent!" In this way the early labor is validated, and the woman can experience a great feeling of accomplishment.
-Lani Rosenberger
Reprinted from Midwifery Today E-News (Vol 2 Issue 5, Feb 4, 2000)
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