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.

The External Cephalic Version Process

What do Contractions Feel Like?

Evidence for Having a Water Birth

Lithotomy Positioning

What Happens When your Waters Break?

Active management of the third stage of labor

Natural Childbirth

Making a Birth Plan

Signs Labor Has Begun

Benefits and Risks of Forceps (Ventouse) Delivery

What is a Transverse Baby?

See more featured articles »

Water Birth Safety

Anal Sphincter Injury During Childbirth

Complications of the third stage of labor

Assisted Birth: Forceps or Vacuum Delivery

Heel Prick Test / Guthrie Test

How to Relieve Pain During Labor

Latest Childbirth News and Research

One in three women miss postpartum check-ups

Findings from a Norwegian study reveal that comprehensive postpartum care by GPs improves women's satisfaction and addresses key health concerns effectively.

7 Jan 2026

One in four women in Norway found to miss postpartum check-ups

In a new study, Christine Agdestein has surveyed several aspects of the postnatal check-up. Agdestein is a specialist in general practice and a general practitioner, and is currently a PhD candidate at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).

2 Jan 2026

Study reveals gaps in postnatal care information and attendance

31 Dec 2025

New roadmap guides antiseizure medication adjustments during pregnancy and postpartum

For the first time, clinicians have access to a clear, evidence-based roadmap for adjusting antiseizure medication doses during pregnancy and after childbirth.

30 Dec 2025

Study shows iCTG improves perinatal outcomes in resource-constrained settings

Ninety-nine percent of global newborn deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where pregnant women often struggle to access adequate fetal monitoring. In Tanzania, with 24 neonatal deaths per 1000 live births, a new wireless fetal heart rate monitoring technology is showing promise in preventing newborn complications and deaths.

17 Dec 2025

Planned birth at term shown to cut pre-eclampsia risk in high-risk women

Planned birth at term reduces the incidence of pre-eclampsia in women at high risk of the condition, without increasing emergency Caesarean or neonatal unit admission, according to new trial results.

4 Dec 2025

Trump wants Americans to make more babies. Critics say his policies won’t help raise them.

Maddy Olcott plans to start a career once she graduates from college. But the junior at the State University of New York-Purchase College is so far not planning to start a family — even with the Trump administration dangling inducements like thousand-dollar "baby bonuses" or cheaper infertility drugs.

3 Dec 2025

Study reveals the overlooked mental health challenges faced by new parents

Intrusive thoughts and psychotic-like experiences among new parents are far more common than previously thought - according to new research from the University of East Anglia.

2 Dec 2025

Development of a polygenic risk score for pelvic organ prolapse in Chinese women

Pelvic organ prolapse (POP), a condition whose development is shaped by both genetic and clinical risk factors, significantly impairs women's quality of life, yet genetic insights into non-European populations and comprehensive risk models that integrate genetic and clinical data remain insufficiently explored.

24 Nov 2025

Prenatal stress hormones may shape when a baby’s teeth erupt

A study links maternal stress hormones in late pregnancy to the timing of baby teeth eruption, highlighting prenatal factors in early childhood development.

20 Nov 2025

Structured infection prevention program can save mothers’ lives in low-resource settings

A landmark multi-country clinical trial has shown that a structured, sustainable approach to infection prevention and treatment can save women's lives, cutting severe maternal infections and deaths by about one-third (32%) compared to usual care.

19 Nov 2025

Hyperemesis gravidarum linked to depression in pregnant women

A recent study conducted at the University of Turku in Finland showed that hyperemesis gravidarum, a severe form of nausea that occurs during pregnancy, is linked to depression.

14 Nov 2025

New study reveals how the uterus senses force to drive labor

When labor begins, the uterus must coordinate rhythmic, well-timed contractions to deliver the baby safely.

13 Nov 2025

New research supports general anesthesia as an option for cesarean births

Regional anesthesia-typically with a spinal or epidural block-has long been favored for cesarean births due in part to concerns about the effects that general anesthesia may have on newborns during labor and delivery.

12 Nov 2025

International experts urge the reclassification of postpartum psychosis to improve treatment

An international panel of leading women's mental health experts – including UVA Health's Jennifer Payne, MD – is calling to reclassify postpartum psychosis as its own category of mental illness to improve the care new mothers receive.

3 Nov 2025

Antibiotic use within 24 hours of birth reduces wound severity in childbirth injuries

Giving antibiotics to women within 24 hours of an obstetric tear during childbirth is associated with a reduced risk of larger/clinically relevant wound complications, find the results of a clinical trial from Denmark published by The BMJ today.

30 Oct 2025

Study finds clear link between osteomalacia and increased risk of complicated deliveries

A research team at Uppsala University has identified a clear link between osteomalacia – a form of bone softening commonly caused by vitamin D deficiency – and a fivefold increased risk of emergency cesarean sections or the need for vacuum-assisted delivery.

28 Oct 2025

Supportive signals during pregnancy ease return-to-work transition for women

Returning to work after maternity leave can leave new mothers wrestling with guilt – feeling they can't fully win at work or home.

17 Oct 2025

Women’s running shoes fail to fit women’s feet

The study uncovers how men's shoe designs fail women runners, urging manufacturers to create footwear that meets their specific comfort and performance needs.

17 Oct 2025

New mothers more likely to experience severe pain and sleep problems after C-section

New mothers are more likely to experience severe pain that disrupts sleep and activities of daily living, as well as develop sleep disorders, if they give birth by cesarean delivery (C-section), suggests research presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY 2025 annual meeting.

12 Oct 2025