Preparing for labor and delivery starts well before your due date and covers everything from understanding what your body will go through to packing your hospital bag. Most people find that a combination of physical preparation, a flexible birth plan, and knowing what to expect from each stage of labor makes the experience feel far more manageable. Here’s how to get ready.
Know What the Stages of Labor Look Like
Labor unfolds in stages, and understanding the timeline helps you recognize where you are in the process and when it’s time to head to the hospital.
The first stage has two phases. The latent phase is the long, slow opener where your cervix dilates from 0 to about 6 centimeters. For first-time mothers, this phase can last up to 20 hours. For those who’ve given birth before, it’s typically closer to 14 hours. Contractions during this phase are irregular and manageable enough that most people stay home. The active phase picks up from 6 centimeters to full dilation at 10 centimeters, with dilation progressing at roughly 1 to 2 centimeters per hour for most women. Contractions become stronger, longer, and closer together.
The second stage is pushing and delivery. Some providers encourage a “passive” period of 1 to 2 hours after full dilation before active pushing begins, sometimes called “laboring down,” which lets the baby descend naturally. The third stage, delivering the placenta, follows shortly after birth and is usually quick.
Learn When to Go to the Hospital
Before labor begins, you may notice backaches, diarrhea, a burst of nesting energy, or bloody show (losing the mucus plug that sealed your cervix). These signs suggest labor is approaching but don’t mean it’s time to leave yet.
The standard guideline most providers teach is the 5-1-1 rule: head to the hospital when contractions come every 5 minutes, last at least 1 minute each, and have followed that pattern for at least 1 hour. Your provider may adjust this based on your distance from the hospital, your birth history, or specific risk factors, so confirm their preferred timing at a late-pregnancy appointment.
Understand Your Pain Management Options
You don’t have to commit to a single pain management plan in advance, but knowing your options helps you make decisions in the moment.
Epidural: The most effective form of labor pain relief. A small catheter placed in the lower back delivers continuous numbing medication. It significantly reduces pain but limits your ability to move freely, and you’ll likely need to stay in bed. It takes some time to place and become fully effective.
Nitrous oxide: A gas you breathe through a mask that takes effect within about a minute. It won’t eliminate pain the way an epidural does, but it takes the edge off and lets you stay mobile. Side effects can include drowsiness (up to 24% of users), nausea (5 to 36%), and dizziness (6 to 23%). It has no known adverse effects on labor progress or the newborn, which makes it a good option if you want some relief without committing to an epidural.
Injectable pain medications: These are opioid-based and can help with early labor pain, but they do cross the placenta and can affect the newborn, which nitrous oxide does not.
Non-pharmacological methods: Movement, position changes, warm water (shower or tub), massage with a tennis ball or by a partner, breathing techniques, and music all help many people cope, especially during the latent phase. These methods work well on their own or alongside medication.
Prepare Your Body in the Final Weeks
Staying active through the third trimester supports stamina for labor. Walking, gentle stretching, and prenatal yoga are all practical choices. Squatting and pelvic floor exercises can help prepare the muscles you’ll rely on during pushing.
Perineal massage during labor itself has good evidence behind it. A meta-analysis of ten trials involving over 4,000 women found that perineal massage performed during the late first stage and second stage of labor reduced severe tearing (third and fourth degree lacerations), lowered the rate of episiotomy, and increased the chance of delivering with no tearing at all. In the studies, massage was typically done for 5 to 15 minutes at a time, with fingers applying gentle downward pressure inside the vagina. This is something your provider or midwife can do during labor, so it’s worth discussing at a prenatal visit.
Write a Flexible Birth Plan
A birth plan communicates your preferences to your care team. Keep it to one page and frame your choices as preferences rather than demands, since labor is unpredictable. Key decisions to think through include:
- Pain management preferences: whether you want an epidural offered, want to try other methods first, or prefer to be asked before any medication is given
- Movement and positioning: whether you want to move freely, use a birthing ball, or labor in water
- Delayed cord clamping: waiting 30 to 60 seconds before cutting the cord allows more blood to transfer to the baby
- Skin-to-skin contact: whether you want the baby placed on your chest immediately after birth, and whether your partner would also like skin-to-skin time
- Cord blood: whether you want to save or donate it
- Feeding: whether you plan to breastfeed and whether you’d like to avoid pacifiers or formula supplements unless medically necessary
- Who cuts the cord: you, your partner, or the provider
- Who is in the room: your support people during labor and delivery
Share copies with your provider, your labor support person, and the nursing staff when you arrive at the hospital.
Handle Late-Pregnancy Medical Steps
During weeks 36 or 37, your provider will test for Group B Streptococcus (GBS), a common bacterium that about 25% of healthy women carry. GBS is harmless to you but can cause serious infection in a newborn during delivery. If you test positive, you’ll receive antibiotics through an IV during labor to protect the baby. This is routine and straightforward, but knowing your GBS status ahead of time helps the hospital team prepare.
Your provider may also discuss induction if certain conditions are present. Labor is typically induced when continuing the pregnancy poses more risk than delivering. Common reasons include high blood pressure or preeclampsia, poorly controlled diabetes, low amniotic fluid, or reaching 41 weeks without spontaneous labor. If your provider recommends induction, ask about the specific reason, the method they’ll use, and what the timeline usually looks like so you can plan accordingly.
Pack Your Hospital Bag by Week 36
Have your bag ready a few weeks before your due date, since labor can start earlier than expected.
For You
- Insurance card, ID, and a copy of your birth plan
- A robe or front-opening shirt for nursing and skin-to-skin contact
- Comfortable going-home clothes (pack what fit at about six months pregnant)
- Nursing bra without underwire
- Maternity underwear and cotton socks
- Toiletries: toothbrush, toothpaste, lip balm, hairbrush, hair ties
- Slippers
- Snacks and a water bottle
- Phone charger
- Lotion or massage oil, a tennis ball for back counter-pressure
For Your Partner
- Snacks and water
- Phone charger and camera
- A front-opening shirt for skin-to-skin holding
- Layers (hospital rooms run cold)
- Toothbrush and a change of clothes
- A bathing suit in case they need to help you in the shower during labor
For the Baby
- A rear-facing car seat, installed before you go into labor
- A going-home outfit with multiple layers
- One or two blankets
- Baby socks
Know What Happens Right After Birth
In the first hour after delivery, sometimes called the “golden hour,” the priority is keeping the baby warm, stable, and close to you. If the baby is healthy, they’ll be placed directly on your chest for skin-to-skin contact. This helps regulate the baby’s temperature, heart rate, and breathing, and it supports early breastfeeding if that’s your plan.
The care team will monitor the baby’s cardiopulmonary stability, watch for signs of low blood sugar, and take steps to prevent infection and heat loss. Routine procedures like weighing, measuring, and a vitamin K injection typically happen within the first few hours but can often be delayed until after the initial bonding period if you request it in your birth plan. Your provider will also deliver the placenta during this time, check for any tearing, and monitor your own bleeding and recovery.
Prepare Mentally and Practically
Take a hospital tour if one is offered. Knowing the layout, where to park, and where to check in removes small stressors on the day. Prenatal classes, whether in person or online, walk you through breathing techniques, pushing positions, and what to expect from common interventions. Partners benefit from these classes just as much, since they learn concrete ways to help during labor rather than feeling like bystanders.
At home, prepare meals in advance and freeze them. Set up the baby’s sleeping area. Arrange help for the first week or two postpartum, whether that’s family, friends, or a postpartum doula. Stock up on household essentials so you’re not making errands a priority in the days after coming home. The more you handle before labor, the more you can focus on recovery and your new baby afterward.