Early labor can last anywhere from a few hours to a day or more, and there are several things you can do during this phase to encourage your body to move toward active labor. The key is working with your body’s natural hormonal signals through movement, relaxation, nourishment, and specific physical techniques, while also conserving enough energy for the harder work ahead.
During early labor, your cervix opens to less than 6 centimeters and contractions tend to be mild and irregular. Active labor begins once you reach 6 centimeters, when contractions become stronger, closer together, and consistent. Everything in this article focuses on that in-between window: what to do while your body is warming up but hasn’t yet shifted into high gear.
First, Confirm It’s True Early Labor
Before trying to speed things along, make sure what you’re experiencing is actual labor and not a prolonged bout of practice contractions. Braxton Hicks contractions can be painful and convincing, especially in the final weeks of pregnancy, and they often intensify toward the end of the day. The simplest test: lie down, drink water, and rest. If the contractions fade or become irregular, they aren’t true labor contractions. True labor contractions persist regardless of rest or hydration, and they gradually become longer, stronger, and closer together over time.
If your contractions keep coming even after resting, you’re likely in early labor. Time a few to get a baseline, then shift your focus to the strategies below.
Use Movement and Position Changes
Staying upright and moving helps your baby descend into the pelvis, which puts more pressure on your cervix and encourages dilation. But not all movement is equal. Asymmetrical positions, where your hips are uneven, tend to open the pelvis more effectively than simply walking in a straight line.
One structured approach is the Miles Circuit, a 90-minute sequence of three positions designed to help reposition the baby and encourage descent:
- Open knee-chest position (30 minutes): Get on your hands and knees, then lower your chest toward the floor while keeping your hips high. This gives the baby room to rotate into a favorable position.
- Exaggerated side-lying (30 minutes): Lie on your side with your bottom leg straight and your top leg draped forward over a pillow, rolling your body slightly toward your stomach. This opens one side of the pelvis.
- Upright asymmetrical movement (30 minutes): Get up and do lunges, walk up stairs sideways taking two steps at a time, walk with one foot on the curb and one on the street, or sit on a birth ball and do hip circles. Anything that keeps you upright with your pelvis in an open, uneven position.
If contractions are present during the circuit, work right through them. The whole point is to keep the process going, not pause it. Between structured movement sessions, alternate between walking and resting so you don’t exhaust yourself before active labor arrives.
Create the Right Environment for Oxytocin
Labor runs on oxytocin, the hormone that drives contractions. Your body releases it most freely when you feel safe, warm, and undisturbed. Stress hormones from your sympathetic nervous system (the fight-or-flight response) directly suppress oxytocin release from the brain. When adrenaline is high, your pituitary gland produces less oxytocin, which can slow or stall contractions.
This means your environment matters more than most people realize. Dim the lights. Put on music or a podcast you find calming. Stay in a familiar, comfortable space as long as possible. Minimize interruptions, phone calls, and anxious check-ins from family. If you feel watched or pressured, your body reads that as a threat and pumps the brakes on labor hormones. Many people find that early labor progresses fastest when they can almost forget they’re being observed.
A warm shower can help with both relaxation and pain relief during this phase. Let the water hit your lower back or belly, and stay as long as it feels good. Warm water supports your body’s ability to release tension without the mental effort of a coping technique.
Try Nipple Stimulation
Nipple stimulation is one of the most direct ways to trigger oxytocin release. Mechanoreceptors in the nipple create a feedback loop that signals the brain to produce more oxytocin, the same reflex that operates during breastfeeding.
Start with one breast at a time, using gentle rolling or massage of the nipple and areola. Continue until contractions are coming at least every 3 minutes. If 30 minutes of single-breast stimulation doesn’t produce a regular pattern, try stimulating both breasts at the same time. You can use your hands or a breast pump. Stop during contractions if they become very intense, then resume between them. This technique is most effective when labor has already started on its own and you’re trying to strengthen a pattern that’s stalling out.
Use Acupressure Points
Two acupressure points are commonly used to encourage stronger contractions. The SP6 point sits about four finger-widths above your inner ankle bone, along the back edge of the shin. The LI4 point is in the fleshy web between your thumb and index finger. Pressing these points stimulates oxytocin secretion, which can intensify contractions and help shorten labor.
For SP6, have a partner press firmly with the pad of their thumb on the inside of both ankles simultaneously during each contraction, using steady pressure (enough to feel deep but not sharp). Release the pressure gradually as the contraction fades, and rest completely between contractions. For LI4, squeeze the web of skin between your thumb and forefinger with a firm pinching motion during contractions. These techniques work best as a complement to movement and relaxation, not as a standalone strategy.
Eat and Drink to Sustain Your Energy
Early labor is the best time to fuel up, because active labor often makes eating unappealing or difficult. Your body during labor has energy demands similar to endurance exercise, and carbohydrate intake during sustained physical effort protects against fatigue.
Focus on light, carbohydrate-rich foods that sit easily in your stomach: toast with honey or jam, yogurt, fruit, dates, soup, cereal with milk, biscuits, chocolate, or boiled eggs if you want some protein. Coconut water and fruit juice are popular choices for hydration that also deliver calories. The goal is steady, small amounts rather than a large meal. Eat what sounds good and feels culturally familiar to you. If tortillas with honey, fried plantain, or roasted okra is your comfort food, that works just as well as the standard toast-and-juice recommendation.
Dehydration alone can make contractions feel more painful and less productive, so keep sipping fluids consistently even if you don’t feel thirsty.
Balance Activity With Rest
One of the most common mistakes in early labor is going all-in on movement and stimulation techniques right away, then arriving at active labor already depleted. Early labor can last many hours, and you need reserves for the more demanding phases ahead.
A practical rhythm: move and use active techniques for 30 to 60 minutes, then rest for a stretch. During rest periods, lie on your side (the exaggerated side-lying position from the Miles Circuit doubles as a great resting position), close your eyes, and try to sleep if it’s nighttime. If early labor starts in the evening, the best thing you can do is sleep through as much of it as possible. Contractions will wake you when they need your attention.
During waking rest periods, take a warm shower, listen to a guided relaxation track, or have your partner do light massage. These activities keep oxytocin flowing without burning physical energy.
When to Head to the Hospital
The standard guideline for timing your arrival is the 5-1-1 rule: contractions coming every 5 minutes, each lasting 1 minute, for at least 1 hour. At that point, your labor pattern is typically established enough that you’re approaching or entering active labor, and it’s time to be where you plan to deliver.
Arriving too early often means being sent home or spending hours in a hospital environment that can spike stress hormones and slow progress. If your water has broken, you’re bleeding beyond light spotting, or you feel a strong urge to push, head in regardless of your contraction pattern. Otherwise, the 5-1-1 rule gives you a reliable signal that early labor has done its job and the next phase is underway.