Latent labour phase

I was so grateful that my midwife sent me this link.  It explains a common pattern of labour, which seems to be especially common in first births, whereby the latent phase is very low, but there is a short, effective active stage.  In such cases, where the latent phase can last days or even weeks, it's very important to rest and stay relaxed to have the endurance to cope.  I found it interesting, from another article, that this phase does produce changes to the cervix, but only up to about 3cm dilation.  It is useful work preparing the body and the baby for the next phase.  I've read a number of stories where women try to bring on active labour by being very active and unfortunately only tire themselves out and don't have the energy to push, so end up in hospital unneccessarily (when planning a homebirth).
http://www.midwivesnaturally.com.au/pre-labour

However, just to stir things up a bit, Rachael Reed, the writer of midwifethinking, objects to the conceptualization of labour into various stages and notes that a woman's contraction pattern is as unique as she is, so it may not be accurate to think of things in terms of latent versus established labour. I certainly know it would feel better to just be in labour and not have to worry about what stage it is.
See both of these posts:
http://midwifethinking.com/2010/08/18/the-effective-labour-contraction/
http://midwifethinking.com/2010/12/22/stages-of-labour-and-collusion/