Dilation & Effacement: What's the Difference?

As you near the end of your pregnancy, you may start to hear the words dilation and effacement from your provider. Still a little confused about what’s what? I’ll break it down for ya.

A little background: your cervix goes through several changes leading up to, and during, birth. It softens, opens and moves, for your baby to be born.

What is the difference between cervical dilation and cervical effacement during labor?

 
 

Dilation

During labor, your cervix opens up for the baby to pass through on his/her way out. The process is known as dilation, and is referred to in centimeters. Your cervix will go from zero —> 10 centimeters during birth.

I know that can be tough to visualize, so here’s an example: Zero centimeters dilated is completely closed and ten cm dilated is about the size of a large bagel. Is that helpful?

Effacement

Your cervix also softens as it’s opening during birth. This is known as effacement, and is expressed as a percentage. During labor, your cervix will reach 100% effacement, or softened.

Again, I know it’s hard to get a feel for what that’s like, so I have another example for you. While reading this, take your finger and touch the tip of your nose. Notice how soft or hard the cartilage feels on the tip of your nose. Now take your finger and touch your bottom lip. See the difference in softness?

Variations of normal

While I do believe in psychics, your cervix is NOT one. Dilation and effacement happen at varying rates, and are not an indication of how quickly you’ll give birth.

  • There are women that take hours and hours, while other women go from 0-10 and 1-100% in under an hour. All are NORMAL. 

  • You don’t HAVE to have cervical exams leading up to, or during labor. For some women, it’s just a mindscrew, since the numbers don’t really tell you anything. And for women that have experienced sexual trauma, cervical exams can be a trigger. It’s your choice and you have every right to decline cervix checks. Plus, they hurt like a b*tch.

  • Some women walk around dilated several centimeters for weeks before birth. Others may dilate from 0-10 in a very short amount of time.

    There are, of course, exceptions and situations that should be carefully considered with your provider.

Nichole Black