The time has come for all your dreams for the future to be fulfilled. You will be in a great hurry to get through with the entire ordeal. Your partner will be extremely excited at the same time tense for the safety of both you and the baby. So trust your doctor and get on with it....

• When you want to push (this may happen several times during a contraction), take a deep breath and hold it for a short time as you bear down, if this helps the push, its important to do what your body tells you.
  

• Between pushes, take a few deep calming breathes. Relax slowly as the contraction fades.

• Push smoothly and steadily during a contraction.
  

• Try to relax the muscles of your pelvic floor, so you feel as if you are letting them go completely.
  

• Keep your face relaxed.
  

• Don't worry about trying to control your bowels, or about any leakage of water from the bladder.
  

• Rest as much as possible between contractions, so you save all your energy for pushing.

• Assist your partner in finding a comfortable position.
  

• Tell your partner to look for the baby as she bears down
  

• Apply warm wash clothes to your partner's perineum.
  

• If your partner is holding breath while pushing, make sure she first lets a little air out, then pace her efforts by counting 10.
  

• Provide a mirror so she can see her progress.
  

• Continue telling her that she is doing great.

• The second stage of labour begins when the cervix is completely dilated and thinned, and ends with the birth of the baby. 
  

• The contractions last for approximately 60 to 75 seconds. 
  

• They are slow in frequency and are usually 3 to 5 minutes apart.
  

• The pushing stage may last from 10 minutes to 2 hrs.

• Try to be as upright as possible when pushing, so you are working with gravity, rather than against it.
  
• Squatting.
  
• Sitting upright.
  
• Kneeling.

During contractions, you may notice the baby's head in the vaginal outlet along with some bulging of the perineum and separation of the vaginal lips.

• The head may appear wrinkled and covered with wet hair.
  

• Its top part remains visible between contractions. This is known as crowning.
  

• With the next few contractions, the head will come out.
  

• It will then rotate, the face turning towards your thigh.
  

• The shoulders will be delivered, and the body will slide out with ease, often accompanied by a gush of amniotic fluid.
  

• The body comes sliding out within next two contractions. The midwife will usually lift the baby up under her armpits and deliver her on to your stomach, still joined to the cord.
  

• The umbilical cord is cut after it has stopped pulsating.