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

Review highlights sex differences in ischemic stroke occurrence among young adults

Women ages 35 years and younger were 44% more likely to have an ischemic stroke (caused by blocked blood vessels in the brain) than their male counterparts, according to a new review of more than a dozen international studies on sex differences in stroke occurrence, published today in a Go Red for Women 2022 spotlight issue of Stroke, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Stroke Association, a division of the American Heart Association.

24 Jan 2022

Pilot survey provides data on the unique needs of new fathers

While federal legislation requires tracking and reporting data on maternal health behaviors around childbirth, fathers have been overlooked in these public health efforts to improve maternal and infant outcomes.

24 Jan 2022

A clinical tool for monoclonal antibody allocation to treat COVID-19

In this research paper, a group of Mayo Clinic researchers discusses how data from MATRx's clinical prioritizing algorithms can be used to address anti-spike monoclonal antibody allocation during times of scarcity.

13 Jan 2022

Study reveals an increasing proportion of women giving birth at 40+

An increasing proportion of women aged 40 and over in Sweden and Denmark are giving birth. Nevertheless, over a recent 10-year period, the need for assisted reproduction for women over 40 in Scandinavia has doubled, a study led by University of Gothenburg researchers shows.

11 Jan 2022

Study reveals widespread impact of COVID-19 pandemic on maternal and newborn care in Europe

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to deficiencies and large inequalities in the care of mothers and newborns in Europe.

10 Jan 2022

Study sheds light on how the immune system behaves during pregnancy

Pregnancy is a challenge for the mother's immune system from the outset. Half of the genes in the fetus are foreign to her body.

29 Dec 2021

WHO and UNICEF warn about the lack of basic water services in health care facilities

Around 1.8 billion people are at heightened risk of COVID-19 and other diseases because they use or work in health care facilities without basic water services, warn WHO and UNICEF.

14 Dec 2021

Financial hardship exceedingly common among pregnant and postpartum women in the U.S.

Pregnancy and the year after delivery is a critical period for health care access for birthing individuals and babies.

13 Dec 2021

Winners of NIH's Decoding Maternal Morbidity Data Challenge announced

The winners of the National Institutes of Health's Decoding Maternal Morbidity Data Challenge were announced today in conjunction with the White House "day of action" on maternal health.

7 Dec 2021

NIH offers $1 million in cash prizes for innovative diagnostics to help improve maternal health

The National Institutes of Health is offering up to $1 million in cash prizes for innovative diagnostic technologies to help improve maternal health around the world in conjunction with the White House "day of action" on maternal health.

7 Dec 2021

Disparities in maternal mental health during COVID-19

In new research, scientists studied individuals who gave birth during COVID-19. Using propensity score matching (PSM), they matched those identified as either Black or Latinx with those identified as non-Hispanic white on sociodemographic. This recent study published as a preprint on the medRxiv* server attempts to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on childbirth-related health outcomes in individuals belonging to Black or Latinx minority groups.

6 Dec 2021

Previous trauma can affect patients during pregnancy, childbirth and after

Josie Granner, a doctoral candidate at the University of Michigan School of Nursing, studies the childbearing year for new parents who are survivors of trauma and post-traumatic stress.

23 Nov 2021

Becerra says surprise billing rules force doctors who overcharge to accept fair prices

Overpriced doctors and other medical providers who can’t charge a reasonable rate for their services could be put out of business when new rules against surprise medical bills take effect in January, and that’s a good thing, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra told KHN, in defending the regulations.

22 Nov 2021