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.
Mothers and babies are monitored closely during labor. Most women are healthy enough to have a baby through normal vaginal delivery, meaning that the baby comes down the birth canal without surgery. If there are complications, the baby may need to be delivered surgically by a Cesarean section.
National Women's Health Information Center
- Labor and Birth(National Women's Health Information Center) - http://womenshealth.gov/pregnancy/childbirth-beyond/labor-birth.cfm
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Vaginal Birth
(Patient Education Institute) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/vaginalbirth/htm/index.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/tutorials/vaginalbirthspanish/htm/index.htm
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JAMA Patient Page: Childbirth(American Medical Association) - http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/reprint/293/17/2180.pdf
Also available in Spanish http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/data/293/17/2180/DC1/1
- Safety of Midwife-Attended Home Births Questioned(05/05/2009, Reuters Health) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_83857.html
- Autism Tied to Older Moms, Breech Birth(04/27/2009, HealthDay) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_83442.html
- Resuscitated Newborns at Risk for Lower IQs(04/21/2009, HealthDay) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_83140.html
- More News on Childbirth http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/alphanews_c.html#childbirth
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Fetal Fibronectin (fFN): A Test for Preterm Delivery(March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation) - http://www.marchofdimes.com/professionals/14332_1149.asp
Also available in Spanish http://www.nacersano.org/centro/9388_10459.asp
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Signs and Symptoms of Preterm Labor and What to Do(March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation) - http://www.marchofdimes.com/prematurity/21239_5809.asp
Also available in Spanish http://www.nacersano.org/prematuro/9323_9992.asp
- Signs of Labor: Know What to Expect(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/signs-of-labor/PR00083/METHOD=print
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Dealing with Pain during Childbirth(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/parent/pregnancy_newborn/pregnancy/childbirth_pain.html
Also available in Spanish http://kidshealth.org/parent/en_espanol/embarazo/childbirth_pain_esp.html
- Drugs for Use in Preterm Labor(March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation) - http://www.marchofdimes.com/13454_13467.asp
- Episiotomy: Can You Deliver a Baby without One?(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/episiotomy/HO00064/METHOD=print
- Labor Pain: Medications for Labor and Delivery(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/labor-and-delivery/PR00105/METHOD=print
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Pain Relief during Labor and Delivery(American Society of Anesthesiologists) - Links to PDF - http://www.asahq.org/patientEducation/labordelivery.pdf
Also available in Spanish http://www.asahq.org/patientEducation/labordeliverySpanish.pdf
- Preterm Labor: Prevention Is the Key(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/preterm-labor/PR00118/METHOD=print
- Back Labor: What Is It?(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/back-labor/AN00744/METHOD=print
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Fetal Heart Rate Monitoring during Labor(American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) - http://www.acog.org/publications/patient_education/bp015.cfm
Also available in Spanish http://www.acog.org/publications/patient_education/sp015.cfm
- If Your Baby Is Breech(American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) - http://www.acog.org/publications/patient_education/bp079.cfm
- Inducing Labor: Your Questions Answered(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/inducing-labor/PR00117/METHOD=print
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MedlinePlus: Cesarean Section
(National Library of Medicine) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/cesareansection.html
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Natural Childbirth(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/parent/pregnancy_newborn/pregnancy/natural_childbirth.html
Also available in Spanish http://kidshealth.org/parent/en_espanol/embarazo/natural_childbirth_esp.html
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Preterm Labor(March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation) - http://www.marchofdimes.com/pnhec/188_1080.asp
Also available in Spanish http://www.nacersano.org/centro/9254_9651.asp
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Recovering from Delivery(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/parent/pregnancy_newborn/home/recovering_delivery.html
Also available in Spanish http://kidshealth.org/parent/en_espanol/embarazo/recovering_delivery_esp.html
- Sheehan's Syndrome(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/sheehans-syndrome/DS00889/DSECTION=all&METHOD=print
- Stages of Labor: Baby, It's Time(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/stages-of-labor/PR00106/METHOD=print
- Techniques Used to Aid Delivery(American Medical Association) - http://www.medem.com/medlb/article_detaillb.cfm?article_ID=ZZZHYDP3O6E&sub_cat=2001
- Umbilical Cord Abnormalities(March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation) - http://www.marchofdimes.com/professionals/14332_4546.asp
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Vaginal Birth After Cesarean Delivery(American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) - http://www.acog.org/publications/patient_education/bp070.cfm
Also available in Spanish http://www.acog.org/publications/patient_education/sp070.cfm
- When Does the Bag of Waters Break?(American College of Nurse-Midwives) - Links to PDF - http://www.midwife.org/siteFiles/news/sharewithwomen49_5.pdf
- Banking Your Newborn's Cord Blood(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/parent/pregnancy_newborn/pregnancy/cord_blood.html
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Birth of a Second Child(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/parent/pregnancy_newborn/pregnancy/second_child.html
Also available in Spanish http://kidshealth.org/parent/en_espanol/padres/second_child_esp.html
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Birth Plans(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/parent/pregnancy_newborn/pregnancy/birth_plans.html
Also available in Spanish http://kidshealth.org/parent/en_espanol/embarazo/birth_plans_esp.html
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Birthing Centers and Hospital Maternity Services(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/parent/system/doctor/birth_centers_hospitals.html
Also available in Spanish http://kidshealth.org/parent/en_espanol/embarazo/birth_centers_hospitals_esp.html
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Birthing Classes(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/parent/pregnancy_newborn/pregnancy/birth_class.html
Also available in Spanish http://kidshealth.org/parent/en_espanol/embarazo/birth_class_esp.html
- Childbirth Education: Get Ready for Labor and Delivery(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/pregnancy/PR00119/METHOD=print
- Contractions(March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation) - http://www.marchofdimes.com/pnhec/159_16047.asp
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Looking at Your Newborn: What's Normal(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/parent/pregnancy_newborn/pregnancy/newborn_variations.html
Also available in Spanish http://kidshealth.org/parent/en_espanol/embarazo/newborn_variations_esp.html
- Meconium Aspiration(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/lungs/meconium.html
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Midwives(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/parent/pregnancy_newborn/pregnancy/midwives.html
Also available in Spanish http://kidshealth.org/parent/en_espanol/embarazo/midwives_esp.html
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Packing for Two(March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation) - http://www.marchofdimes.com/pnhec/240_1039.asp
Also available in Spanish http://www.nacersano.org/centro/9255_9679.asp
- Transient Tachypnea of the Newborn (TTN)(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/lungs/ttn.html
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Vaginal Birth(Patient Education Institute) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/vaginalbirth/htm/index.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/tutorials/vaginalbirthspanish/htm/index.htm
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Delivery, Obstetric(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/condition=%22Delivery,+Obstetric%22
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Labor, Obstetric(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/condition=%22Labor,+Obstetric%22
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Research on Preterm Labor and Premature Birth(National Institute of Child Health and Human Development) - http://www.nichd.nih.gov/womenshealth/research/pregbirth/preterm.cfm
References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
- Article: Effect of food intake during labour on obstetric outcome: randomised... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=19318702&tool=MedlinePlus
- Article: Ambulation in labour and delivery mode: a randomised controlled trial... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=19302638&tool=MedlinePlus
- Article: Determination of fetal head station and position during labor: a... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=19217593&tool=MedlinePlus
- Childbirth -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=((delivery,obstetric[majr]+OR+labor,obstetric[majr])+NOT+(cesarean+section[mh]+OR+obstetric+labor+complications[mh]))+AND+english[la]+AND+humans[mh]+AND+(jsubsetk[text]+OR+clinical+trial[pt]+OR+review[pt]+OR+guideline[pt]+OR+patient+education+handout[pt])+NOT+(letter[pt]+OR+editorial[pt]+OR+case+reports[pt])&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+1+Year&tool=MedlinePlus
- Complications in childbirth -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=obstetric+labor+complications[majr]+AND+english[la]+AND+humans[mh]+AND+(jsubsetk[text]+OR+review[pt]+OR+guideline[pt]+OR+clinical+trial[pt]+OR+patient+education+handout[pt])+NOT+(letter[pt]+OR+editorial[pt]+OR+case+reports[pt])&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+1+Year&tool=MedlinePlus
- ACOG's Physician Directory(American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) - http://www.acog.org/member-lookup/disclaimer.cfm
- American College of Nurse-Midwives - http://www.midwife.org/
- American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists - http://www.acog.org/
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National Women's Health Information Center(Dept. of Health and Human Services) - http://womenshealth.gov/
Also available in Spanish http://womenshealth.gov/espanol/
- Newborns' and Mothers' Health Protection Act(Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) - http://www.cms.hhs.gov/healthinsreformforconsume/05_thenewborns%27andmothers%27healthprotectionact.asp?
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Births: Preliminary Data for 2007(National Center for Health Statistics) - Large PDF file - http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr57/nvsr57_12.pdf
- FastStats: Births -- Method of Delivery(National Center for Health Statistics) - http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/delivery.htm
- FastStats: Obstetrical Procedures(National Center for Health Statistics) - http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/obgyn.htm
- PeriStats: Perinatal Statistics(March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation) - http://www.marchofdimes.com/peristats/
- Preliminary Births for 2004(National Center for Health Statistics) - http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/pubs/pubd/hestats/prelim_births/prelim_births04.htm
- Cesarean Section - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/cesareansection.html
- High Risk Pregnancy - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/highriskpregnancy.html
- Premature Babies - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/prematurebabies.html
- Twins, Triplets, Multiple Births - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/twinstripletsmultiplebirths.html
- Female Reproductive System - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/femalereproductivesystem.html
- Pregnancy and Reproduction - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/pregnancyandreproduction.html
- Women - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/women.html
Childbirth - Multiple Languages - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/languages/childbirth.html