When Will I Go into Labor?
BY: REBECCA BELENKY OF LOS ANGELES BIRTH
Pregnancy doesn’t run on a clock, and there is no crystal ball to tell you when labor will happen. Just like berries on the vine ripen at their own pace, babies arrive on their own timeline, when both parent and baby are ready. This post explores the wide range of “full term,” the hormones that start labor, and why trusting your body’s timing matters.
Blackberries on the vine
Pregnancy and Due Dates— Lessons From Berries on a Vine
In the birth world, there’s a saying: “the cervix is not a crystal ball.” Dilation tells us something about the present moment, but it cannot predict the future. The truth is, pregnancy unfolds in its own time—and maybe we need a better metaphor to understand that.
I like to think about berries on the vine.
No one questions why one berry ripens before another, even when they’re growing side by side on the same soil, under the same sun, watered by the same rain (or irrigation system here in Los Angeles). Some berries are ready sooner, some take longer, and all are perfectly normal. We trust the process. We don’t rush them. We don’t measure their worth by the speed of their ripening.
So why do we think about human pregnancy so differently?
The Wide Range of “Full Term”
It is considered completely normal for babies to be born anywhere between 37 and 42 weeks of pregnancy. That’s a five-week span of healthy, full-term gestation. Yet our culture often narrows this into one sharp point: the due date. We treat that single day as a deadline, as though a baby is “late” if they don’t arrive “on schedule.”
One person may go into labor at 38 weeks, another at 41, and both are within the range of healthy, normal birth. The variation is not a problem—it’s part of the design. When we compare pregnancies—or pressure birthing people with timelines—we overlook the complexity and individuality of how labor begins.
Berries on the vine
The Hormonal Symphony of Labor
Labor doesn’t start by accident. It begins when both the baby and the birthing body are ready. This readiness is orchestrated by a delicate interplay of hormones, almost like nature’s own symphony.
Oxytocin, often called the “love hormone,” plays a central role. It helps the uterus contract rhythmically and supports feelings of safety, connection, and calm—conditions that help labor progress smoothly.
Prostaglandins soften and ripen the cervix, making it ready to open.
Relaxin loosens ligaments and softens tissues, creating space in the pelvis for the baby to move down.
Beta-endorphins, the body’s natural pain-relievers, rise to help with coping and to promote an altered, focused state of awareness.
Adrenaline and stress hormones also play a role—sometimes slowing labor if the environment feels unsafe, and later giving the final surge of energy needed for pushing.
But perhaps most importantly: the baby helps signal the start of labor.
“Many scientists now believe that it is the baby who initiates the labor process. When all the baby’s organs are fully mature and the baby is ready for life outside the uterus, he releases a small amount of a protein that initiates labor in the mother (Condon, Pancharatnam, Faust, & Mendelson, 2004)”
Research shows that hormones released by the maturing baby’s lungs and placenta trigger changes in the parent’s body, essentially sending the message: “I’m ready.”
This means labor begins only when two systems—parent and baby—are both in sync. Just like the berry and the vine work together with the environment to determine ripening, birth requires the interplay of both the baby’s readiness and the parent’s physiology.
Cervical Ripening and the Opening Process
One of the most obsessed-over body part at the end of pregnancy is the cervix. People often ask at their prenatal appointments: “Am I dilated yet? Does this mean I’ll go into labor soon?”
But cervical change isn’t a straight line. The cervix doesn’t simply open like a door on a schedule. Instead, it ripens and softens gradually—like fruit on the vine. It becomes stretchy and supple under the influence of hormones. Only then does dilation (opening) happen in response to contractions.
This is why a person can be “2 centimeters dilated” for weeks without going into labor, or “not dilated at all” one day and in active labor the next. Just as you can’t judge a berry’s readiness by looking at its neighbor, you can’t predict labor by a cervical check.
Strawberries on the vine
Why Due Dates Can Mislead Us
Due dates were originally designed as a statistical estimate, not an expiration date. They’re calculated based on an average, but only about 5% of babies are actually born on their due date. The majority arrive within a two-week window on either side.
Yet our medical culture often treats the due date as a hard deadline. Inductions are scheduled, anxiety builds, and families feel pressure when a baby hasn’t “arrived on time.”
But if full-term pregnancy spans five whole weeks, then a baby born at 41 weeks is just as normal as one born at 38 weeks. It’s the human version of ripening.
Trusting Nature’s Timing
When we release the pressure of the due date, we open ourselves up to TRUST: trust in the body, trust in the baby’s part in the process, trust in the natural rhythms that ask for patience. Just like berries on the vine, each pregnancy carries its own timing.
Of course, there are times when complications arise and we may override a natural course of the end of pregnancy. There are definitely times when we need to take action instead of patient surrender—when medical complications put the parent or baby at risk, such as high blood pressure or cholestasis. In those cases, intervention can be life-saving and we are grateful for the technology of modern medicine.
But in the absence of complications, allowing labor to begin on its own is usually the safest, healthiest path—for both baby and parent.
Clusters of blackberries on the vine
A Final Thought
Berries ripen in their own time. Some earlier, some later than others, all nurtured by the same vine, soil, and sun. And we don’t question it.
Pregnancy is the same. Your body and your baby are working together in ways we can’t see—aligning, ripening, and preparing for the moment when labor will begin.
When we compare ourselves to others, or let the calendar dictate our sense of “normal,” we miss the wisdom of this process. Labor begins when both parent and baby are ready.
So perhaps instead of fixating on the due date, we could take this small lesson from nature… The beauty of Berries on the Vine.
Trust the ripening. Trust the process. And know that your timing is the right timing.
Rebecca Belenky is a Los Angeles–based doula, childbirth educator, and lactation educator who has been supporting families since 2014. Through her practice, Los Angeles Birth, she offers compassionate, trauma-informed care that helps parents feel informed, grounded, and confident through pregnancy, birth, and postpartum.
