Preparing For Labor - Arrival to the Birth Center and Active Labor
- Mar 24
- 7 min read
To the Point
Arrival and Triage
Check-in: Access the birth center through the Emergency Department; factor in potential ED congestion when timing your arrival.
Triage Process: Staff assess progress in a triage room to ensure admittance criteria are met before moving mother to a delivery room.
Admittance Risk: Mothers may be turned away if they do not meet specific clinical markers.
2. Admittance Criteria
Clinical Markers: Typical requirements include meeting the 5-1-1 rule, cervical dilation of >4–6 cm, or 80% effacement.
Physical Signs: Staff also check for a ruptured embryonic sac (water breaking), fetal heartbeat, or abnormal health stats like fever.
Manual Exams: Expect physical cervical checks performed by staff using their gloved fingers.
3. Managing Labor
Triage Pain: Medicated relief is generally unavailable during triage; utilize non-medicated positions and breathing exercises.
Delivery Room: Pain management options typically become accessible only after being moved to a labor and delivery room.
Partner Self-Care: Stay hydrated, avoid locking your knees to prevent fainting, and use cyclic breathing to manage personal anxiety.
4. Advocacy and Support
Partner's Role: Act as the "voice" for the mother to bridge communication gaps with medical staff.
Maintain Dignity: Request the mother be cleaned promptly if she loses bowel control during pushing.
Effective Communication: Make specific, professional requests (e.g., asking for water or pain relief) rather than general emotional statements.
Lets Talk
The Arrival and Triage
A good portion of the time when arriving to the hospital for labor you will have to go check in through the Emergency Department (ED). Typically, the staff there will contact the birth center to alert them of your arrival. It is important to ask you provider how the general check-in process goes for their location.
If the ED is busy, you may end up having to wait to be seen by staff. This can be a tricky balancing act when judging when to leave. Based on time of day and contractions timing, you may need to make a judgement call on how early to arrive. If its late in the day, or the evening, you may consider leaving a little bit earlier than originally anticipated to account for possible ED congestions.
Once you are sent from the ED to the birthing center, you may have to go through something called the to the birth center triage first. The triage is a set of rooms in the birthing center where the labor and delivery team assess the current progress of the mother in labor. This is important to note. If the mother does not meet the admittance criteria, the labor team may elect to turn the mother away. This is one reason why working with your care team on when you should leave for the hospital is important. See also Planning For Labor - Planning to Leave.
Though each birthing center may be a bit different with their admittance criteria, there are some commonalities which are generally assessed. These are usually,
5-1-1 rule is met
Cervical dilation >4-6 cm
Cervical effacement >80%
This may feel like the baby ‘dropping’ or pressure on the pelvis- see Effacement – By The Cleveland Clinic for a more in depth dive.
Ruptured embryotic sac (water broke)
Fetal heartbeat
Bleeding
Abnormalities in baseline health stats for the mother
Fast heart rate, fever, etc…
I should take a second and mention, that most of the cervical checks are usually done ‘manually’. i.e. via staff physically checking the cervix with their fingers for cervical dilation and effacement. Just as a heads up, this could be how you’re your care team does it.
If the mother meets the criteria that the labor and delivery team is looking for, then the mother will be admitted and likely go straight to their room from there.
The triage process can be quick or slow depending on staff availability. It is important to note that the mother will likely not get any medicated pain relief. For mothers who are progressing quickly through labor, triage can be a particularly painful and stressful time. This is where your non-medicated labor pain management practices may come in handy. Remember your laboring positions and breathing exercises? This is a perfect opportunity to put those skills to use. I highly recommend that you practice these techniques in the days/weeks leading up to labor. Practicing your laboring positions will let you know which ones seem helpful and which ones don’t for the mother. I talk a little more about this in Preparing For Labor – Creating a Birth Plan.
Once the medical team confirms labor has progressed sufficiently, you will be moved to a labor and delivery room, where pain relief options finally become available.
The Room
One thing I recommend is visiting the birthing center ahead of time so that you know what your resources are and how to get situated quickly. If you are familiar with the setup, you will be able to quickly setup whatever pain management the mother needs. For instance, if you birthing center has a laboring tub, become familiar with how the faucets work, how to plug the drain, how to set the temperature, where the towels are, etc…
Once you get to the room, and if the pain management has allowed for brief respite, you should take the opportunity to situate yourself with your hospital bags and any comfort items and prepare any comfort items that the mother needs. See Hospital Bag Essentials for some recommendations on what you should consider bringing.
Game Time!!!
Now that you are in the room things can move quickly. Get yourself situated, know where all of your items are at and be ready to grab them quickly.
Don’t underestimate the power of a cold wet rag for the mother’s forehead. Seriously, this helps more than you might think.
Drink water! Both you and the mother should try to remain hydrated. You need to take care of yourself as well. That way you can be ready to support as needed. Labor can be long or short. So, prepare for the long haul just in case.
Don’t lock your knees! You may need to stand for prolonged periods. It is important to remember that locking your knees while standing for prolonged periods can cause fainting. Make sure you are shifting your weight from leg to leg periodically. Or just moving like walking.
Don’t let yourself or the mother overheat! Some labor and delivery rooms can be quite warm. It makes sense because the mother is usually in a thin hospital gown and maybe has some blankets.
Breathe! It is not only the mother who needs to make sure they are breathing, but you do too. It can be a stressful time. Allowing yourself erratic breathing or holding your breath can raise your anxiety. BREATHE MAN! I personally found cyclic breathing to be helpful in allowing me to remain relatively calm. Standford School of Medicine’s –“ 'Cyclic sighing' can help breathe away anxiety” has a decent video covering a breathing technique which may help lower anxiety. There are many different breathing techniques you can use. I will add a few to the ‘resources’ section below. Pick one that seems to work well for you!
There is already one person in need of medical assistance at this moment, try not to make it two. You being of sound mind and emotionally stable can help prepare you for the next section.
The Partner/Father’s Role as Advocate
For fathers and partners, this is the moment to step up. While the mother focuses on her body and breathing, you must be her voice.
Be the Voice. Do not assume the hospital staff knows exactly what the mother is feeling or thinking. You are there to bridge the communication gap between mother and provider if needed.
Speak up: If you notice a change in the mother’s condition or if she expresses a need which she cannot vocalize herself/is afraid to vocalize to the staff, address it immediately.
Maintain Mothers’ Dignity: Labor can be a brutal process with no real breaks in between contractions. It is common for mothers to lose bowel control (they are pushing after all). The mother may end up defecating. As the advocate calmy and firmly request that she be cleaned promptly to maintain her comfort and dignity. Do not assume that the staff is going to address feces. Providers are worried about health, not necessarily comfort. YOU ARE THE VOICE.
If you are not typically a strong voiced person. Fret not. Advocacy does not mean that you have to be confrontational or yell. Firmly but calmly state the need.
Stay Collected: Remaining calm helps you think clearly and ensures the staff takes your requests seriously.
Be Specific: Don’t say, “She is in pain! Help Her!”, that much is obvious. Instead say something to the effect of "My wife is in pain; can we get her some pain relief?" Or instead of saying, “She needs water!”, say something like “She is thirsty, I don’t want her to get dehydrated. Can we get her some water please.” Being direct and professional is more likely to have staff listen and empathize rather than raise emotional barriers.
Plan Ahead: This st where your birth plan comes in. The mother may not be thinking clearly through the pain. Having the birth plan with you will help you remember anything that you two had discussed for labor. See Preparing for Labor – Creating a Birth Plan.
Dads, I know this time is likely going to be tough. It is going to be exhausting for the both of you. Please, please, please remember to be the stable rock for the mother. Your journey through this is not without its tough points, but the mother has it much worse and may really need you. All of the chaos is only temporary. Remember that. The struggles in that moment are not forever. Again, breathe!
If you are a person like me and you like to have as much information as possible, I encourage you to look at the article Stages of labor and birth: Baby, its time! Written by Mayo Clinic. This article can help you understand typical timelines of labor and deliver.
You can do this! Buckle up, and get ready for game time!
Resources
Labor
Breathing Exercises
Sources
Hutchison, J., Mahdy, H., & Jenkins, S. M. (2025, February 15). Normal labor: Physiology, evaluation, and Management. StatPearls [Internet]. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK544290/#:~:text=Patients%20are%20typically%20admitted%20for,with%20ruptured%20membranes%20and%20contractions
Cleveland Clinic. (2025b, August 12). What is effacement? https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/symptoms/23156-effacement
Leggett, H. (2023, February 9). “cyclic sighing” can help breathe away anxiety. Stanford Medicine - New Center. https://med.stanford.edu/news/insights/2023/02/cyclic-sighing-can-help-breathe-away-anxiety.html#:~:text=According%20to%20Stanford%20Medicine%2C%20cyclic%20sighing%20is,day%20over%20the%20course%20of%20one%20month
Staff, M. C. (2024, July 23). Stages of labor and birth: Baby, it’s time! Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/labor-and-delivery/in-depth/stages-of-labor/art-20046545
Clinic, C. C. (2022, October 26). Water breaking: Labor sign, what it feels like & what’s next. Cleveland Clinic. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/symptoms/24382-water-breaking
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