Dear Five Doves,

I have been following the discussion about the birth pangs and the tribulation but have not had time to contribute. I am a certified nurse midwife and have pondered for several years the Father’s choice of the pregnancy/birth model for the tribulation event. So I would like to make a few comments based on what I know as a midwife.

The uterus is a smooth muscular--made of muscle tissue similar to the muscle of the heart, stomach, and bladder--sack. These muscles are less likely to respond to intentional commands of the brain like the striated muscles of movement like those in the arms legs and abdomen. Once pregnant the uterus is capable of expanding to accommodate the size of one or more fetuses. Before and during pregnancy the uterus has contractions. Most of the contractions are not detectable except as a “cramp” in the non-pregnant uterus and only by a hand on the abdomen of a pregnant uterus. A pregnant uterus contracts throughout the pregnancy. So as the term of the pregnancy runs out the uterus that contracted during that time simply increases the length, regularity, and intensity of the contractions. To my knowledge it is not known what initiates the process of labor. Some have supposed that it is the size of the uterus; others think the fetus initiates labor via a chemical signal.

Labor begins and proceeds in a different manner in the first pregnancy as compared to subsequent pregnancies. The labor of a first pregnancy is under normal circumstances more apt to commence on or after the due date. Although the onset of contractions may occur and then dissipate in a first pregnancy the process of a first labor when it begins in earnest proceeds to dilate the cervix or opening to the womb--the true definition of labor.

In contrast, any labor after the first is characterized by the onset of contractions with dilation of the cervix with interludes of rest. I have seen some women come in halfway through the dilation of the cervix only to be sent home and return a few days later and barely make it to the unit to deliver.

The process of labor is artificially divided up into stages. In the first stage of labor, or active labor the cervix dilates from 0 to 8 cms. Most women are in active labor at 5 cms--before that labor can stop.

The contractions occur every 3 to 5 minutes and are firm to the touch of the abdomen. Another important sign of active labor is “show” or the bleeding that occurs due to the breaking of blood vessels in the cervix as it dilates.

At 8 cms or transition the contractions change in character. They are much harder and more uncomfortable but they occur less frequently. The head of the baby will descend dramatically into the birth canal and there is more “show.”

At 10 cms or the second stage the cervix is completely dilated, surpassed by the fetal head, and a woman is allowed to accomplish delivery by pushing the baby out. For the first baby pushing may require as much as two hours. (In the US most women are not allowed to remain undelivered past the two hours.) After the first baby the second stage is much shorter--in some women only a few minutes.

The reason I mention the two types of labor is that I wonder at the interpretation of the scripture in Genesis by some concerning the creation of the earth. Some think there is a gap between the first two

verses and that historically some cataclysmic event occurred corresponding with that gap.

So the earth could very well be about to enter into its “second labor.” The characteristic of that labor would be as in a woman that has had labor once already. It could be real contractions on and off again with some real effects but not enough change to be declared active labor. In other words the events that we see today while similar to the convulsions in the Tribulation that are the actual birth pangs are not the true birth pangs because they are not at the right time. But they are in themselves cataclysmic events and precursors to the events that will take place in the tribulation.

I believe that the event that will mark the start of the actual labor like the sign of show in a real labor is the revealing of the beast.

If you have any questions let me know.

Linda Hazelton

meetyahshua@hotmail.com