Childbirth (also called labour, birth, partus or parturition) is the culmination of a human pregnancy or gestation period with birth of one or more newborn infants from a woman's uterus. The process of normal human childbirth is categorized in three stages of labour: the shortening and dilation of the cervix, descent and birth of the infant, and birth of the placenta.. In some cases, childbirth is achieved through caesarean section, the removal of the neonate through a surgical incision in the abdomen, rather than through vaginal birth.
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This is a blog on childbirth, including insight, meditation, video and stories. ... A Childbirth Blog. Oct 31, 2007, A Childbirth Hypnotherapy Archive ...www.achildbirth.com/childbirth-blog.htmlPregnancy & Birth - About.com
Pregnancy and birth articles and information from About.com. Features a week-by-week pregnancy calendar, online community, and ultrasound picture collection.pregnancy.about.com/Passion for Birth - Childbirth Educator Training
... for Birth is a childbirth education training program that is ... New Childbirth Educator Blog (11) Passioneers (6) PfB seminars (13) poll (1) Research (27) ...childbirtheducation.blogspot.com/Emergency Childbirth
Emergency Childbirth. This blog has begun in light of the peril that pregnant women, mothers and ... to this in the navigation bar on the left of this blog. ...emergencychildbirth.blogspot.com/PTSD After Childbirth Blog
Did you have a traumatic birth experience? ... After Childbirth Blog. Friday, ... Woman to Woman Childbirth Education. The Business of Being Born. Pushed ...www.angelfire.com/moon2/jkluchar1995/blog/index.blog?entry_i...Childbirth (also called labour, birth, partus or parturition) is the culmination of a human pregnancy or gestation period with birth of one or more newborn infants from a woman's uterus. The process of normal human childbirth is categorized in three stages of labour: the shortening and dilation of the cervix, descent and birth of the infant, and birth of the placenta.. In some cases, childbirth is achieved through caesarean section, the removal of the neonate through a surgical incision in the abdomen, rather than through vaginal birth.
The mechanics of vaginal birth
Because humans are bipedal with an erect stance and have, in relation to the size of the pelvis, the biggest head and shoulders of any species, human fetuses are adapted to make birth possible.
The erect posture causes the weight of the abdominal contents to thrust on the pelvic floor, a complex structure which must not only support this weight but allow three channels to pass through it: the urethra, the vagina and the rectum. The relatively large head and shoulders require a specific sequence of manoeuvres to occur for the bony head and shoulders to pass through the bony ring of the pelvis. If these manoeuvres fail, the progress of labour is arrested. All changes in the soft tissues of the cervix and the birth canal are entirely dependent on the successful completion of these six maneuvers:
- Engagement of the fetal head in the transverse position. The baby is looking across the pelvis at one or other of the mother's hips.
- Descent and flexion of the fetal head
- Internal rotation. The fetal head rotates 90 degrees to the occipito-anterior position so that the baby's face is towards the mother's rectum.
- Delivery by extension. The fetal head passes out of the birth canal. Its head is tilted backwards so that its forehead leads the way through the vagina.
- Restitution. The fetal head turns through 45 degrees to restore its normal relationship with the shoulders, which are still at an angle.
- External rotation. The shoulders repeat the corkscrew movements of the head, which can be seen in the final movements of the fetal head.
Latent phase
The latent phase of labor may last many days and the contractions are an intensification of the Braxton Hicks contractions that may start around 26 weeks gestation. Cervical effacement occurs during the closing weeks of pregnancy and is usually complete or near complete, by the end of latent phase. Cervical effacement or Cervical dilation is the thinning and stretching of the cervix. The degree of cervical effacement may be felt during a vaginal examination. A 'long' cervix implies that not much has been taken into the lower segment, and vice versa for a 'short' cervix. Latent phase ends with the onset of active first stage; when the cervix is about 3 cm dilated.
