# "I was in labour for 3 days"...I keep on hearing people say this, is it true?



## jennyxx

This probably sounds completely daft but when someone says they are in labour for days how much of that time is spent in hospital? How often are the contractions in each day?

I ask as my other half works 6 days a week running our business and he can't have three days away. I mean if the contractions are only every hour or so surely I could ring him when they got closer together and it was time to go to the hospital? He is only ever 10 miles away from home at the most!


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## Hunbun

I started having contractions on Saturday morning and LO was born on Monday morning, so technically it covered three days even though it isn't counted officially as being in labour that whole time iykwim? 

The contractions started and stopped for a long time so I didn't actually go to hospital until 3am on the Monday morning and LO was born at 10am.


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## Mum2princessA

i started having contractions sat afternoon, 8-10 mins apart until sunday night when thy were about 3-5 mins apart and very painful. had my dd the next day on monday at 2pm. 

you can be in labour for days, but the active labour (when you've dilated to 4cm+) are when things start moving faster and it's a lot more painful - this is what a lot of people count the hours for.


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## Amygdala

Hunbun said:


> I started having contractions on Saturday morning and LO was born on Monday morning, so technically it covered three days even though it isn't counted officially as being in labour that whole time iykwim?
> 
> The contractions started and stopped for a long time so I didn't actually go to hospital until 3am on the Monday morning and LO was born at 10am.

I was going to comment but this is exactly what I would have written, word for word. :haha: So basically: what she said! Only difference is my LO was born at 9am Monday morning. 

It can be frustrating to have (often quite regular) contractions for that long and be told you're not in labour yet. On the flip side, that allows you to stay a home, which for me was definitely the much more "enjoyable" part of labour. I arrived at the hospital at 7cm, after my waters had broken.


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## hobbnob

I was in labor for 33 hours and pushed for 3 hours. My contractions started and were 3 minutes a part for hours and hours and finally went to the hospital an i was omly 2 cm dilated and spent the remaining 19 hours at hospital. It was a long time and you can not predict what will happen. I learned there is no set pattern to labor. The childbirth classes all say wait until you are having contractions that are 5 minutes apart that last 1 minute for 1 hour (5,1,1) and then go to the hospital. Well mine were 3,1,1 right from the start and never let up for 36 hours. They did progressively intensify. 

Bottom line is, you can't really plan childbirth. You take it as it comes unless you have an elective c-section.


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## singers_love

Hello, I was having contracts every 10 mins for about 4/5 days before my waters broke. during that time, they sped up then, got slow again... I was absolutely knackered, so I can say yes... You can be in labour for that long... 
10 miles isnt that far, so Im sure if you start having contractions close together you could call him, he would probably make it in time!


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## tinkerbelle93

My labour lasted around 2 days. 

I started having contractions on Friday whilst my partner was at work but they weren't too bad so I didn't tell him until he got home. My partner went to work again on the Saturday even though my contractions were getting worse and I'd lost my plug in the morning. 

Sunday morning, my waters broke and we went to hospital. I was already 7cm and soon after our little boy came. :) 

Most of the time if you're in labour for a long time you're fine to stay at home for most of it. Whenever I phoned the hospital to see if I should come in they kept telling me to wait, even when my contractions were very close. They only told me to come in once I'd phoned to say my waters had broken. xx


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## BubsMom17

I was in "labor" for five days (started Monday). Dilated to 1 cm. Contractions were not painful, but they would be 7 min apart, 6 min, 15 min etc. I took one day off of work (that Monday), then worked the rest of the week. On Friday I was a little uncomfortable and was not very productive, getting up and walking around every 40 minutes or so. Like I said, even after 5 days the contractions weren't regular, but I was getting really tired and uncomfortable. Saturday morning they were more painful but still erratic. I lost some of my plug, but really wanted to speed things up so DH and I walked around a lot that day. That night around midnight I was getting so uncomfortable I couldn't sleep. I got up to pee, and BAM! GUSH.... water broke every where! That is when labor really kicked in! I went from 1.5-2 cms to 4 cms in 1 hour! Big difference from the weak mini-contractions I had been having all week! Rushed to the hospital and he was born 5.5 hours later! : )

I was so glad I waited to go in. My hospital was about 27-30 miles away and I told myself if went it, we were only leaving with a baby!


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## gk1701

I was in "labour" for 28 hours but I was only have contractions for 12 of those and only pushing for 3. Just because someone is technically in labour doesn't mean that anything much is happening.


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## amjon

I was in labor for 2 hours (any pain) and didn't even know that I was in labor because it was just AF type cramping, but constant. It can go very fast, even for a first.


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## Beccaboop

I started having contractions on tues between 7 and 2 mins apart and was checked 3 times in the next few days but wasnt dilating at all and on thurs night after 2 nights of no sleep i went to hospital and asked them to do something i was hoping theyd induce me or give me something for the pain and they gave me petherdine as i was 39 weeks so they wouldnt induce me and kept me in over night but just ignored me until the fri morning i was checked again and was 7cm dilated and baby was born later that day!


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## NoodleSnack

Some people don't count the latent phase as being "in labour", if you go to the hospital, they wouldn't give you a room anyway, and there's really not much reason to go so early unless you suspect that you are one of those people who go from latent to active labour really fast or your water has broken for 24 hours. Normally, they tell you to go to the hospital when your contractions are about 3 minutes apart lasting for 1 minute. My midwife said to call her when I can't speak through the pain anymore.

I had contractions for 1 and a half day, for most of that I was taking my mum and brother sightseeing and dining out.


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## aimee-lou

With my first I started my contractions at about 7pm on the Saturday, wasn't admitted to hospital until about 9pm on the Sunday and then Earl was born at 12noon on the Monday. I was pretty uncomfortable for the whole of the 26 hours I was at home, and we did go in to hospital at about 1am on the sunday only to be sent home as I was only 1cm. 

With my 2nd it was completely different. My contractions 'started' on the Wednesday Morning. I didn't actually know they were real contractions until much later on, as they were very low level, just like a stitch or an AF cramp, or a bad BH. This continued, I was dosed up on paracetamol but noticed just the odd bout. I would time them but after a few minutes to an hour they'd go. On the Saturday (Yes, Saturday!! lol) I saw the MW, was told I was already 3-4cm, and had 2 sweeps, the last of which at 11.30pm started my labour proper and Edward was born at 4.24am. Technically, I was in labour for 5 days!!!! It was actually only really 4, and even then, the active labour stage was only 5 hours! 

Labour is a big thing.....and it can make you very uncomfortable, even in the early stages. I think all you can do is play it by ear, and maybe have a backup birth partner who can be with you in early stages perhaps if Hubby is at work.


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## skc22

I was in active labour for 5 days (I was induced) and also pushed for 6 hours before my c section


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## flowermum

My labour was 48 hours, almost exactly!


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## xsadiex

I had 37 hours of contractions, for the first 28 hours the contractions were ok, not agony at all. Then established labor was 9 hours. I didn't sleep for the whole time which was tiring but it was a wonderful labour!


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## tonibzac

People like to make out their labour was worse than it probably was :dohh:

I could say I was in labour for days but pffft...

My waters broke wednesday 1pm so 'technically' in labour
Went on monitor thurs am as had a bleed and showed I was having regular contractions but couldn't feel them
Contractions started thurs afternoon but bearable, got worse at 8pm. If I hadn't been kept in hospital I probably wouldn't have gone in until this point (8pm).

I was 3cm at 10.30pm so still not 'technically' in active labour. Things became really bad at 11.30pm and she checked me and I was 5cm. Things felt unbearable just after midnight and I was 7cm!! Half an hour of pushing and she arrived at 1.34am :cloud9:

So yes I was 'in labour for days' but to me it was only really thurs night ;)


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## chulie

Here in Canada you aren't considered in "active" labour until you are in the 4-1-1 rule....at least....most hospitals wont admit you until then...dr's times vary slightly...some follow 5-1-1....but it's basically the same.....Until you have contractions every 4/5 minutes...lasting a minute...and this goes on for an hour....they won't admit you. Luckily they did for me because mine NEVER followed that...So usually the dr's say....4-1-1...unless you feel you need pain medication....hahaha..


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## NaturalMomma

No, you're not in labor for days. You can be having contractions for days and even weeks, but that is pre/early labor. Active labor doesn't start until you're around 5 cm dialated and that won't last for days. For first timers it lasts around 12-24 hours, but can be shorter or a little longer. But generally not longer than 24 hours.


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## MummysMiracle

My contractions started at 7am, my waters broke at 8:15am and baby was here at 8:30am. 
In total my labour was 1.5 hours long. I guess LO couldn't wait to break out, lol.


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## Librastar2828

Active labour from 4cm+ is considered "labour" mine was 19hours on paper from around midday Tuesday to 7am Wednesday morning. 

I was contracting from the Sunday night though around 10pm right up until he was born. I don't care what anyone says they were labour pains, they were painful, at times unbareble and around 5-8mins apart lasting 50secs so I couldn't even sleep. I went to hospital twice before being sent home only being 2cm and was admitted at 3cm even though not active labour for a further 12hrs!

Not al are like this though some are easy and quicker but some like mine are long and painful and I needed my oh there throughout..

Yes you can be dilating for days/weeks and not notice but I think as soon as your hit with pain that's labour and in my case it lasted 3days!


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## teal

First contraction/waters breaking to birth - 6.5 hours
4cm to birth - 3.5 hours.


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## tamithomas

The longest personally I know as in people in my life so far is 42 hours. It can happen but it's not as common as people make it seem.


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## BettyBoop152

My "active" labour on paper was 43 hours and 1 hour pushing.. I had been stuck at 6cms for what seemed like forever.. no sleep no food and begging for a c section.. (was told no.. not entirely sure why)
From what I understand most hospitals try to let you go naturally as long as neither mum or baby are distressed.. IMO all births are different but to take it that llong it's ridiculous! Btw if I counted from first contraction it would have been 4 days lol.. I got sent home twice too xxx


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## My_First

Okay so tell me, I was always only 1cm, I have having quick, fast, doubling up contractions, couldn't eat or sleep, and was on an induction drip for a day and a half with contractions coming every few mins lasting over a min never let up, still remained at 1cm, ended in a section FTP. So are all of you saying at no stage I was actually in labour?


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## BettyBoop152

I believe hospitals do say unless you are 4cm and contracting for a minute each time etc its not active labor.. but like OP said some woman never get to that point and need assistance.. so yes I'd say you were in labor hun xx


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## lozzy21

My waters broke at 2pm on sunday and i was 2-3cm and she was born on on tuesday night.

However im strage. From sunday till 3pm on tuesday i had killer back ache. Got to hospital at 3pm on tuesday because she had passed meconium, had about 3 big contractions to be told i was 9cm.

So you can be in labour and not having contractions. 

Saying your not in labour untill your 4cm is rubbish! That is the hospitals talking! How do you get to 4cm if your not in labour?


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## socitycourty

i was in labor, in the hospital for 2 days. my water had broken at home on friday night so they kept me, she wasn;t born till sunday. then had to stay till the next friday as we both had issues after, i had an emcs due to infection and she had severe jaundice


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## Mrs Bee

From the time my waters broke to my emergency c section it was 33hrs 15 minutes... However my waters broke on the 7th April in the evening... I laboured at home until 4 pm Monday 8th in the afternoon... I was admitted to hospital because my waters had gone too long and i was only 2cm so they needed to start the antibiotics and the drugs to get the contractions going... I was transferred to another hospital due to complications with my baby stressing... I arrived there at midnight... They let me go to 6am to see if I could progress any further but it was doubtful and a scan showed she was coming in on a bad angle and would get stuck... I was only 7cm so they prepped me for the c section and by 8.45 my baby girl was here!!!

It was such a Traumatic birth for me and the first hospital I was at was really awful... Labour for me was as described... It hurt! What I wasn't prepared for was fearing my baby wouldn't make it... That was the scary part! When everything was going wrong I swore my girl would be our one and only because I couldn't go through that again but now she's here I'd do it all again in a heart beat... 

Sorry such a long post but don't be scared.... Your labour cold be quick and easy or horrible... All that matters is that precious baby at the end... All the best to you xxx


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## The Alchemist

My mom was in prelabor for days while pregnant with me. Active labor started on the 4th day.


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## hanfromman

Unless your waters have gone then generally the hospitals only get really interested in you when your contractions are 4-5 mins apart and lasting around 50 seconds to a minute, or when you've been examined and are 4cm, although these often coincide! Well that's how it was where I am anyway:thumbup:
I was told to ring the on call midwife when my contractions get to 7 mins apart. When I did this she told me that they needed to get a bit closer together and more importantly, last longer. 
My contractions started about 24 hours before they were 4-5 mins apart, and my midwife said that was quick for a first birth, so yeah you can be in labour for 3 days easily, but not active labour which is 4cm dilated onwards. Once I got to 4cm, my son was born about 10 hours later, and again I've been told this was quite quick so it can last much longer than that! I seem to remember the midwife at the hospital telling me that they expect half a centimetre an hour, so when I was 4cm I really should have had another 12 hours ahead, then a couple of hours pushing!
Labour can be looooong, and you will usually have a good day or so of warning - either your waters will go or your contractions will start. If your waters go your husband might need to be available a bit quicker, but if just contractions, probably nothing much will happen for a good few hours:thumbup:


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## Anderson8

From my waters breaking(4cm) to emcs I was 44hours


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## magic93

I was in labour less than four hours... 3 hours 7mins from first contraction to baby out...
I was induced so I was given pitocin, but even still I had no signs of labour at all before I went into the hospital, and this was my first labor... But EVERY labor varies, it is very possible to be in labour for 3 days... I cant imagine tho


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## mrsholmes

I was in slow labour from Friday to Monday irregular co reactions but painful. I was checked 2pm on the Monday and I was 2cm it took me until Wednesday 4pm to get to 4cm with regular contractions and I had Scott at 11.45 on the Wednesday night , do I say yes!!!


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## d_b

Yes it happens but I don't think it's super common. And for the majority of women who it happens to, the early stages are mild cramps or leaking waters. If I count from waters leaking my labour was 9 hours but I didn't feel anything at all for the first 4 or 5 hours then started getting regular contractions about 2 minutes apart lasting 45 seconds. So I count the start of my contractions as the start of labour. They didn't really change much so I feel like it was active labour the whole time which was probably 4 hours. I wasnt checked til i was fully dilated, so I have no idea when 4cm hit but I am guessing it was like 5 minutes in, lol.

My good friend had about 36 hours from waters leaking but she wasn't in a lot of pain until about 12 hours in. The contractions were still 10 minutes apart at that point so she had a long break in between.


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## Radiance

My sister was in labor for 3 1/2 days before she needed a c-sections. She had contractions non-stop, ranging from 2-5 minutes.


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## SIEGAL

Not always a long labor! I was in labor less than 12 hours. And the first few hours I was at home trying to go back to sleep - pain started waking me up at maybe 4 am. Thinking they were Braxton hicks as they were irregular.
Anyway - I assumed what you did that birth takes days as all you hear is to stay at home.
Well that's what I did and I'm lucky I had an OB appt that morning or my baby would have been born in the car. I was 6 cm when I went to my appt. By the time they wheeled me across the hospital and I got undressed in bed I was 9 cm. I got the epidural at 10 cm which slowed down my labor so I slept 2 hours and baby was born before 3 pm. 

So don't forget - fast labors can happen so be prepared


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## tag74

I was one of those who was in labor 3 days. I was sent to the hospital on Tuesday am because my blood pressure was high. The began pitocin and induced my labor. Thursday around 5 pm I wasn't making good progress so they "threatened" a C section that I didn't want. She came 3 hours later. :) It wasn't the most pleasant experience but 3 days of labor is because I was induced.


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## sequeena

I started contracting at 39+6 and gave birth at 40+3. I was in pain for days but the contractions only ramped up at 40+2

ETA: I had a back to back labour which may have something to do with why I was in labour for so long.


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## amelia26

I was induced and it was 3 days from starting to induction to emcs. I was having contractions 3 minutes apart already when I went in but they weren't strong. I had two days of strong contractions 2-3 minutes apart but didn't dilate so it didn't count as active labour. I think it's a bit different with induction though. The drugs made me contract but not dilate (only got to 3cm)


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## embojet

singers_love said:


> Hello, I was having contracts every 10 mins for about 4/5 days before my waters broke. during that time, they sped up then, got slow again... I was absolutely knackered, so I can say yes... You can be in labour for that long...
> 10 miles isnt that far, so Im sure if you start having contractions close together you could call him, he would probably make it in time!

Snap! My contractions would be regular all day for 4 days, and stop completely at night. OIn the 4th night, I woke up at midnight needing to push and turned up at hospitla fuly dilated, still having contractions only every 10 mins.


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## amotherslove

i laboured for 63 hours in hospital. 

most of it was "early labour" and i was only at 2cm.. but i had bad vomiting and gallbladder attacks and contractions were off and on.. when they were on they sucked. once they broke my water finally i dilated FAST. from 2-10 in an hour and out she came. but those 3 days SUCKED.


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## imthatgirl

I was having contractions irregularly (varied between 15 minutes apart down to right on top of each other) for over 70 hours before my baby was born. They never came came regularly the whole time, right up through pushing. I didn't have any complications though.


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## OurLilFlu

As a nurse in postpartum and L&D... Labour is defined as REGULAR and PRODUCTIVE (cervix changes) contractions, which usually councides with being around 4 cm and by that time the contractions are about 5 mins apart and lasting 1 min...yes you may contract at regular or irregular intervals for a long time but if you are not dilating or effacing its not true labour... You will have plenty of contractions spanning vastly different timelines but remain at 1 or 2 cm... So no you generally are not in true active labour for days and days, usually around 24 hours is on the long side of things...


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## Dream.dream

I had a 39 hour labour and I count from when the contractions were 2-3 minutes apart and lasting 30 seconds at least 

I had contractions 8-10 minutes apart for days before I actualy went into labour and if I counted that I would have been in labour for a week


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## SpringerS

OurLilFlu said:


> As a nurse in postpartum and L&D... Labour is defined as REGULAR and PRODUCTIVE (cervix changes) contractions, which usually councides with being around 4 cm and by that time the contractions are about 5 mins apart and lasting 1 min...yes you may contract at regular or irregular intervals for a long time but if you are not dilating or effacing its not true labour... You will have plenty of contractions spanning vastly different timelines but remain at 1 or 2 cm... So no you generally are not in true active labour for days and days, usually around 24 hours is on the long side of things...

That's only accurate for standard, non-complicated labour. For example, back to back labour tends to entail regular, close together, extremely painful, contractions while effacing and dilation limp along very, very slowly. It took me 65 hours of contractions, 45-60 seconds long, coming at least every 5 minutes to efface. By the time my waters broke my contractions were 1 minute on, 1 minute off and I had dilated 1cm. The midwives and doctors agreed to give me an epidural at that point and although I couldn't feel them the monitors showed that my contractions were coming faster and stronger over the next few hours but I still wasn't dilating and oxytocin was suggested. Even after I fully dilated on that, my son just still wasn't in the right position and a little over 80 hours after my contractions started coming every 5 minutes, my son was born via c-section. I was most certainly in labour though.


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## Louise88

I was in labour for 16 hours waters went at 7:30pm contractions started around 8:30-9pm at 6am I was 6cm and had my daughter at 12:32pm after pushing for around 20 minutes, my labour was very easy :)


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## hokiemom

Someone mentioned that labor is considered being 4+ cm dilated, but I actually started counting labor way before that as I didn't dilate right away. I woke up on a Sat. with contractions about 7 minutes apart. Then they went to about 3 and stayed that way for the next 1 1/2 days. It was only 11 hours before I gave birth that I even reached 4 cm, but I surely count all those hours of painful contractions as labor. They were consistently 3 minutes apart and lasting 45-60 seconds :)


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## Noo

No - You're only in labour once you've reached 4cm dilated, the cervix is fully effaced and you're contracting 3-4 times in 10 minutes. People do seem to think a long latent phase is labour though - But it isn't... It's getting ready for labour, but that doesn't make it any less annoying/painful/tortuously slow.

I started contracting at 4am but wasn't 3-4cm until 12.35pm and delivered at 13.45... Technically I had a 70 minute active labour but obviously was contracting longer than that.


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## CatAndCo

I was having contractions for 62 hours, but from 4cm to birth it was seven hours.


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