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

Louisiana reclassifies drugs used in abortions as controlled dangerous substances

Louisiana lawmakers have added two drugs commonly used in pregnancy and reproductive health care to the state's list of controlled dangerous substances, a move that has alarmed doctors in the state.

24 Jul 2024

Survey: Most Americans believe it's normal for women to experience pain and incontinence post-childbirth

A new national survey by the Orlando Health Advanced Rehabilitation Institute finds most Americans believe it's normal for women to experience pain, pressure and incontinence after having children.

15 Jul 2024

How may cannabis affect neurodevelopment when exposed in the womb?

Researchers investigated whether prenatal cannabis exposure is related to variations in brain development, which may partially mitigate the relationship between PCE and increased psychopathology throughout early adolescence.

9 Jul 2024

Baby boys more likely to achieve HIV cure or remission after in-utero infection

Baby girls are more likely to acquire HIV from their mothers during pregnancy or childbirth than infant boys, who are conversely more likely to achieve cure or remission, researchers say in a new study that sheds light on the gender differences in immune systems.

5 Jul 2024

First global estimates of economic costs of genital herpes infections

Genital herpes infections and their related complications lead to billions of dollars in health care expenditures and productivity losses globally, according to the first ever global estimates of the economic costs of these conditions.

1 Jul 2024

Perinatal depression may increase cardiovascular disease risk

Women with perinatal depression have a 36% higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease, particularly hypertensive disease, ischemic heart disease, and heart failure, as shown in a Swedish nationwide study.

23 Jun 2024

Perinatal depression linked to higher long-term cardiovascular disease risk in women

Women diagnosed with perinatal depression are more likely to develop cardiovascular disease in the following 20 years compared to women who have given birth without experiencing perinatal depression, according to research published in the European Heart Journal today (Wednesday).

19 Jun 2024

Lateral episiotomy reduces risk of severe perineal trauma in first-time mothers

In first-time mothers requiring vacuum-assisted delivery, a lateral episiotomy (angled cut) in the tissue between the vaginal and anal opening more than halves the risk of obstetric anal sphincter injury, a severe form of perineal trauma between the vulva and anus.

18 Jun 2024

Study reveals doubling of chronic hypertension in pregnancy from 2008 to 2021 in the U. S.

The number of individuals in the U.S. who had chronic hypertension or chronic high blood pressure during pregnancy doubled between 2008 and 2021, while the prescribing and filling of antihypertensive medication during pregnancy remained low but stable at 60%, according to new research published today in Hypertension, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Heart Association.

17 Jun 2024

Montana creates emergency ‘drive-thru’ blood pickup service for rural ambulances

Crystal Hiwalker wonders if her heart and lungs would have kept working if the ambulance crew had been able to give her a transfusion as the blood drained from her body during a stormy, 100-mile ride.

17 Jun 2024

How do extreme weather conditions impact maternal health in low-income and middle-income countries?

The disruption of infrastructure and decreased access to health and medical services due to extreme weather events.

11 Jun 2024

New analysis shows cost-effectiveness of lifesaving package for post-partum hemorrhage

A lifesaving package including early detection and bundled treatment for women who have heavy bleeding during childbirth has been found to incur minimal additional cost according to new analysis from 78 hospitals around the world.

6 Jun 2024

Study links PFAS exposure to increased cardiovascular disease risk in postmenopausal women

New research from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has linked multiple types of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS, also known as "forever chemicals") with increased risk of cardiovascular diseases in postmenopausal women.

5 Jun 2024

Long-term study reveals safety of metformin use during pregnancy

Metformin is safe to use during pregnancy to manage diabetes, with no long-term adverse effects on the children born and their mothers for at least 11 years after childbirth, according to research presented Sunday at ENDO 2024, the Endocrine Society's annual meeting in Boston, Mass.

3 Jun 2024

Study reveals alarming rates of postpartum depression among mothers in six countries

Study published in BMC Public Health identified the prevalence, predictors, and coping strategies for postpartum depression (PPD) among mothers in six countries, highlighting significant variation across different cultural and demographic contexts.

19 May 2024

Climate change threatens health in Europe: Urgent action needed to protect vulnerable populations

A recent report in The Lancet Public Health details how climate change affects human health in Europe through 42 indicators, emphasizing the urgency of climate action to protect vulnerable populations and address health inequalities. The report highlights the significant health risks and the need for equitable interventions.

14 May 2024

Their first baby came with medical debt. These Illinois parents won’t have another.

Heather Crivilare was a month from her due date when she was rushed to an operating room for an emergency cesarean section.

10 May 2024

Medically aided conception vs. natural conception: Study explores cancer risk in children

The risk of cancer in children born by medically assisted reproduction (MAR) to infants conceived naturally.

7 May 2024

Personalized screening approach may better predict preeclampsia in the first trimester of pregnancy

A new screening algorithm for preeclampsia combining maternal history, ultrasound data and several tests for blood markers may better predict the majority of preeclampsia cases in the first trimester of pregnancy, when it may still be preventable, according to new research published today in Hypertension, an American Heart Association journal.

6 May 2024

Quitting smoking during pregnancy prevents placental-fetal weight mismatch

A new study from the University of Bergen and the University of Exeter shows that pregnant women who quit smoking may prevent an abnormal mismatch between the weight of the placenta and the growth of the fetus.

30 Apr 2024