Giving Birth

Inducing labor at the end of a pregnancy is not a step that is taken lightly. Often toward the end of the nine months the expectant mother is more than ready for the baby to be delivered. She may be experiencing leg pain, back pain, swelling, loss of appetite, gastro-intestinal problems or gestational diabetes.

Pregnancy is an interesting 9 month journey during which a woman goes through several stages of psychological changes. Women learn they are pregnant, anticipate the birth of their child and then move back to learning about the growth and development of their child and the process of labor and delivery.

Today women have choices that weren’t available even 10 years ago. Just 100 years ago most (95%) of all births happened at home. That trend slowly moved toward birthing in hospitals. However in the 1970’s women found that the conditions, although safe, were sterile and uninviting.

Go to a delivery room at a hospital or birthing center and you’ll find a large amount of equipment and supplies that are suppose to provide the safest environment for a mother to give birth to her baby. A typical home may not look as safe for mom and baby. A hospital is the perfect place for high-risk deliveries. A home is the perfect place for normal deliveries. Most complications can be managed at a home birth. Read more ...

Homebirth (home birth) is on the rise. More and more couples decide for a homebirth for several reasons. This article describes dad's role during a home birth.

Women today have more options for giving vaginal birth compared to mothers had just a few decades ago. Just a little more than 3 decades ago, a woman in labor was flat on her back for whole the duration of labor and often even put to sleep completely.

When it comes to giving birth many couples look to hiring a doula. But what exactly is a doula and why should you use a doula when giving birth?

Waterbirths are controversial and there is disagreement among the medical community as to the safety and advantages of giving birth immersed in water. There are distinct advantages for both mother and child regarding waterbirths, some of which are largely ignored by the traditional medical community.

If you want to have a natural childbirth the following tips will help you. All recommendations are based on relaxation as the tool of choice. You will see why this is so important for your body in times of immense stress and pain.

I've always been fascinated by the moon's effect on nature, so when a friend's wife conveyed to me what her midwife had told her during the birth of their daughter, I decided to find out more about childbirth, full moon and a possible link.

Pain is the word most associated with labor. Women go to great lengths to deal with the discomforts of childbirth. They attend classes, buy products, read books and talk to their friends. However, relaxation is the one essential ingredient, often overlooked, which helps with the reduction of painful contractions.

What do we mean by focus? In our modern day society it conjures up an image of someone concentrating intensely, maybe over his or her computer. The image is narrow and leaves little space for expansion and relaxation. Focus in our modern world has the feeling of contraction.

Modern Lamaze childbirth classes teach expectant mothers breathing techniques and often other ways to work with the labor process to reduce the pain often associated with childbirth, such as hot and cold packs, changing positions, the use of a "birthing ball" to remain in a supposedly more natural upright position, and even orgasm to induce or hasten labor.

So you’re pregnant? Congratulations! Your life is about to change in ways you might find unthinkable (and we’re not even talking about the surrender of your once slim waistline to proportions most comparable to that of a Dr. Suess character).

You have a choice where to have your baby. As long as there were no complications with your pregnancy, you can give birth at home, at a birth centre, or in hospital.

After 42 weeks of pregnancy, two days of undergoing inducement and physical stress on the baby, my daughter was delivered via an emergency C-section. Oh, it was music to my ears when my gynecologist arrived in my hospital room at 4:30 a.m. and told me they were going to do an emergency C-section.

Although nothing anybody says can ever completely prepare a woman for the day she delivers her first baby, there are some simple suggestions that should help make this amazing experience a little bit easier.

Welcoming a newborn baby into the family is always a joyful occasion especially for first-time parents. The nine months of waiting has finally come to an end. How heart-warming it is to hear that first cry. Your baby has arrived!

Did you know that the number of twin births have more than doubled since the early 1970s? Today, about one of every 35 births in the United States are twins. Even more significant is the number of triplet and higher multiple births which have increased 200 percent over the last three decades.

Not so long ago a dad-to-be would pace up and down outside the labor room and would be admitted only after the birth. Modern practice is to assume the dad-to-be should be at the birth to offer support.