That's it! Time's up!

Love this sign! What a laugh!

But it does make me think about the very real anxiety that surrounds birth...and time.

When I initially ask clients what they wish for, the most common answer is, "A fast birth."

However, after we've been working together for a number of months, most clients realize that each labour takes as long as it needs - no more, no less. Each woman's task in labour is to accept its flow, allowing it to unfold as it should. Time and space start to recede, endorphins increase, tension starts to release, and then labour works well.

To put a time limit on any labour harms its natural rhythm. Birth is a psychosexual process. And, just like lovemaking, it withers when it is pressured by time.

Ultimately, once you understand the nature of birth and its relationship with time, you settle into a pace that fits you and your baby on this particular day. It may be fast. It may be slow. But, it should never be rushed or ruled by the clock.

So, don't be pressured by that sign...

- Jacquie Munro, Vancouver Doula