| " | \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t- The fetus/baby is protected from foreign material and objects by the cervix, the cervix is further sealed by the mucous plug. This mucous plug is expelled sometime before labor, not so different from uterine lining being shed during a period. So for all you people unaware, a penis can never touch the baby as long as the cervix is closed. - The cervix will dilate up to 10 centimeters over a period of a few hours or days, randomly varying each pregnancy. - A contraction feels like a wave that radiates from the lower back to the front, it ramps up, peaks, and slowly decreases. This gets more intense as labor goes on, to let the mother get used to the intensity of the contractions that will dilate the cervix and force the fetus down towards the birth canal. - Related to the dilation, Dua here has been dilating for a day (or two) now, this is seen in p.5 where the cervix is already seen dilated and the mucous plug is gone. The pains she was referring to a day ago were lighter pains that you can say were "training" the body for the real contractions. - In the early stages of labor, contractions may be light enough that some mothers are able to sleep through contractions in order to preserve their strength for when they have to finally deliver. - Unlike what we see in media, the baby is not immediately born when the waters is broken. - Dua's personality is based off a cat. Cats tend to want to give birth alone, with privacy and usually don't like to be touched while they're giving birth (of course there's some exceptions in personality). - Being in a hospital environment too can sometimes rush the mother to give birth according to their pace, and not at the mother's pace, which can cause some unneeded stress if it's not a problematic birth. - All this combined, of course Dua would rather opt to give birth at home, it's the least stressful location to give birth in and calm, she can also teleport/levitate to a hospital at any time if there's trouble. - As labor gets more intense, the mother will have less inclination to speak/talk, to focus on the labor/contractions/pain. - Throughout (natural) labor, the mother will tend to change positions multiple times to where she feels comfortable. This can include pacing, walking, squatting, kneeling, crouching, on all fours, etc.. - The pillow having a face is named Pillowcat, it's a reference to one of the earliest sketches I did of Dua. She treasures that pillow like a plushie.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t | \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t