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The cervix is its normal size and shape.
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Contractions make the cervix dilate, or widen. The cervix also becomes thinner, changing from its usual thickness of about 3/4 inchto become as thin as a cheet of paper. This thinning is call effacement
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Transition completes the work of the first stage. The cervix becomes fully dilated to a size of 4 inches and the baby's head slips out of the uterus into the birth canal.
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When the top of the head appears at the opening of the birh canal, it is called crowning.
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The baby's head emerges. The head has changed its shape to ease the passage through the birth canal. It will later return to normal. After the head, the shoulders follow. Then the rest of the baby slips out easily.
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The women gives birth to the placenta, no longer needed by the baby.
