Birth
Child birth information
The moments leading up to the long-awaited birth of a new baby are among the most anxious in a woman's life. Giving birth can seem overwhelming to the first-time mother. However, with proper health care and an experienced medical team, child birth should be a smooth experience. Regular examinations during the final months of pregnancy also help the mother and her doctor identify potential problems and birth defects; however, such issues are rare in the United States.
Beginning Labor
In the days or hours before labor begins, a woman will sometimes pass a chunk of bloody matter from her cervix – this is the called the "mucous plug", and it is the first sign that child birth will soon begin. When this occurs, the baby should have "dropped," or moved into a head-down position low in the pelvis.
At this point, if the baby drops the wrong way around, the mother faces a breech birth, or possible caesarean section. The latter is performed in emergency cases, when the child faces risk of birth injury. Some women find it difficult to tell whether they are in "true labor."
The first indication of labor is usually the "water" breaking; this sometimes happens with mild contractions. If you're in pre-labor, walking or moving around will have no effect on these contractions.
True Labor
True labor is comprised of contractions that have only one possible outcome: a new name on the baby's birth records. Contractions get stronger and more regular, especially during walking or when changing position. They begin at the back and move forward. Now is the time for the new parents to organize birth certificates and family notifications, along with birth announcements in the local paper.
Midwives will examine the mother regularly to ensure that her cervix is properly dilated, and that the child is not experiencing any difficulties. If there is an emergency of any kind, surgeons will step in to perform an extraction through the uterus; this happens very infrequently.
Women who have overdue may find themselves being called into the maternity unit and undergoing induced labor, which is a concoction of hormones that will trigger child birth within a few hours.