The effort and pain of childbirth; labour. Frequently (and earliest) in in travail: in labour. Also figurative.

Of a woman: suffering the pains of childbirth; in labour. Also in figurative contexts.

Of a woman: in labour; undergoing childbirth. Also figurative.

†(a) the process of childbirth; = labour, n. 8a (obsolete); (b) the use of children in industry or business, esp. when illegal or considered inhumane.

Medicine. Of childbirth: difficult, prolonged. Also: †giving birth with difficulty (obsolete). Now historical or rare.

The process of childbirth from the onset of uterine contractions to delivery of the fetus and placenta; an instance of this. Also: this process…