OK, so many of you who have been through a marathon 1st stage would kill for a 6 hour 1st stage but I'm on a slightly different boat.

Both my mother and maternal grandmother had nice, quick. non eventful and reasonably easy 1st stages never longer than 6 hours and I'm guessing that seeings my pregnancy has been much the same as their pregnancies, I could possibly expect to have a similar experience in labour.

My problem is (or I should say could be) that my DF works in Norway 7 days and is home 7 days and our bub is due on thursday the 19th and he's meant to get home late in the evening of wednesday the 18th. If by chance I go into labour early and it progresses quickly, there's a chance he won't be able to get on a flight and get home in time or if he's at his base and it's the middle of the night, make the 7 hour drive home before the baby is out and that would be a shame for all of us.

How can you slow down a 1st stage that has already started?

Can it be done safely?

Can it be done non medically?

The worst case scenario is if it's 11pm and he's just landed in Trondheim...the next flight out would be 8 next morning and he wouldn't be home before midday, meaning that if quick labours are in my genes then by the time he gets home I'll be well and truely done with the job....that would suck.