Childbirth

When you are ready to have your baby, you'll go through labor. Contractions let you know labor is starting. When contractions are five minutes apart, your body is ready to push the baby out. During the first stage of labor, your cervix slowly opens, or dilates, to about 4 inches wide. At the same time, it becomes thinner. This is called effacement. You shouldn't push until your uterus is fully effaced and dilated. When it is, the baby delivery stage starts. Crowning is when your baby's scalp comes into view. Shortly afterward, your baby is born. The placenta that nourished the baby follows.

Breeched Birth: Caesarean Section or Vaginal Delivery?

Breech presentation is common in about 15% of pregnancies at 29 to 32 weeks.

Natural Childbirth

What is a Transverse Baby?

Anal Sphincter Injury During Childbirth

Active management of the third stage of labor

Heel Prick Test / Guthrie Test

Lithotomy Positioning

Evidence for Having a Water Birth

Water Birth Safety

What Happens When your Waters Break?

Assisted Birth: Forceps or Vacuum Delivery

Benefits and Risks of Forceps (Ventouse) Delivery

See more featured articles »

What do Contractions Feel Like?

Signs Labor Has Begun

Complications of the third stage of labor

Making a Birth Plan

How to Relieve Pain During Labor

The External Cephalic Version Process

Latest Childbirth News and Research

Esketamine after childbirth cuts risk of postnatal depression by three-quarters

Low-dose esketamine administered post-labor significantly reduced depressive symptoms in women with prenatal depression within 42 days, despite an increase in short-lived neuropsychiatric side effects.

14 Apr 2024

AI model can accurately screen for post-traumatic stress disorder after childbirth

A generative artificial intelligence (AI) model that can analyze the narrative accounts of women who have undergone recent childbirth has shown the ability to accurately screen for post-traumatic stress disorder (CB-PTSD), a study by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system has found.

12 Apr 2024

AI program can help identify signs of childbirth-related PTSD

Researchers have adapted an artificial intelligence (AI) program to identify signs of childbirth-related post-traumatic stress disorder (CB-PTSD) by evaluating short narrative statements of patients who have given birth.

12 Apr 2024

Low dose esketamine injection after childbirth reduces postpartum depression

A single low dose injection of esketamine given immediately after childbirth reduces major depressive episodes in individuals with depressive symptoms during pregnancy (prenatal depression), finds a clinical trial published by The BMJ today.

12 Apr 2024

Study explores the connection between childhood experiences and weight before pregnancy

Sandsæter is a midwife and has seen the development first hand. Increasing numbers of pregnant women are overweight. Heidi Sandsæter has studied what overweight and obese pregnant women perceive as the cause of this development.

4 Apr 2024

Study reveals underdiagnosis and inequities in postpartum depression treatment

Pregnancy and childbirth can be significant stressors on mental health. Nearly one in eight people who have given birth develop postpartum depression, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

1 Apr 2024

Study reveals strong bidirectional relationship between perinatal depression and premenstrual disorders

Women affected by premenstrual disorders have a higher risk of perinatal depression compared with those who do not, according to research published March 28th in the open access journal PLOS Medicine.

29 Mar 2024

WHO releases first roadmap to combat postpartum hemorrhage worldwide

WHO today released its first roadmap to tackle postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) – defined as excessive bleeding after childbirth - which affects millions of women annually and is the world's leading cause of maternal deaths.

27 Mar 2024

Objective risk information motivates preeclampsia prevention among pregnant patients

A new study in BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth finds that objective information about risk of preeclampsia could be key to driving patient behavior change and creates motivation among pregnant patients to follow provider recommendations on prevention, even among those who are medication-hesitant.

19 Mar 2024

Study sheds new light on how CVD is associated with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy

UiB-research sheds light on how CVD is associated with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy - but not for everyone.

19 Mar 2024

Study: Maternal death rates in the U.S. may be overstated due to faulty surveillance

Maternal death rates in the United States may be sharply overstated as a result of faulty surveillance techniques, according to an analysis by researchers at Rutgers Health and other universities.

13 Mar 2024

Infant feeding practices, health and quality of life outcomes during the 2022 infant formula shortage

A recent study published in Nutrients examined infant formula use, difficulties, support resources, and potentially beneficial measures for the future in a sample of US parents.

12 Mar 2024

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Alabama’s IVF ruling still making waves

Reverberations from the Alabama Supreme Court's first-in-the-nation ruling that embryos are legally children continued this week, both in the states and in Washington.

29 Feb 2024

Pregnancy history could unlock early interventions for women's heart health

Study reveals a strong link between a woman's obstetric history by age 40 and her risk of dying from heart disease, emphasizing the importance of pregnancy complications in predicting future cardiovascular health.

28 Feb 2024

Maternal antibiotic use during childbirth tied to higher risk of autoimmune diseases in children

Children whose mothers have received antibiotic treatment during childbirth are more likely to develop autoimmune diseases compared to their counterparts, according to a recent registry-based study conducted at the University of Oulu, Finland, involving nearly 46,000 children.

22 Feb 2024

Study reveals lower birth rates on weekends and holidays in Japan

Significantly more babies were born on a weekday instead of weekend day or holiday, reveals a large-scale analysis of 21 million births in Japan over almost four decades published February 14, 2024 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Miho Sassa from the University of Tokyo, Japan, and colleagues.

15 Feb 2024