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For a great percentage of women giving birth for the first time, labor lasts between 14 and 24 hours. The subsequent labors may be shorter, but it is important that you keep always in mind that pregnancy is different for every women and it can be longer or shorter for some women. Although we can divide labor into stages and phases.

1. First stage is called effacement and dilation, it takes approximately 13 to 21 hours. This stage ends when the cervix reaches full effacing and a dilation of 10 centimeters, and we can dived it in several phases:
- Latent phase (8-12 hours) - Full effacement of the cervix and 3 centimeters' dilatation.
- Active phase (4-6 hours) - 3 to 7 centimeters dilation of the cervix.
- Transition phase (1-3 hours) - 7 to 10 centimeters dilation of the cervix.

2. Second stage is the pushing, and it may take 1 to 3 hours. It starts when the baby is pushed through the birth canal and ends with the baby's birth.

3. Third stage is birth of the placenta, it can take 5 to 20 minutes and in general isn't painful.

4. Fourth stage is the immediate postpartum, it takes about 2 hours, and is a stage when the mom is closely observed to see if her uterus is contracting, the bleeding is under control and she is getting attached to her baby. This is also a time for the mom to eat or drink, breastfeed her baby and above all, rest from the effort made in the last hours.

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