The best position for your baby inside your uterus at the time of delivery is head down. This is called cephalic presentation. This position makes it easier and safer for your baby to pass through the birth canal.
Most babies are born head first with their faces looking down, their back against your stomach and their chin tucked in on their chest. This position is called occipito anterior.
Face presentation increases the risk of facial edema, skull molding, breathing problems (due to tracheal and laryngeal trauma), prolonged labor, fetal distress, spinal cord injuries, permanent brain damage, and neonatal death. Usually, medical staff conduct a vaginal examination to determine the position of the baby.
Other forms of presentation such as breech presentation may cause difficulties with birth. Once the baby is head down, the best position for a labour is the anterior position. Anterior position means the baby's head enters the pelvis facing your back. This is the ideal and most common position for birth (see image).
Birthing in the side-lying position has been shown to reduce perineal tearing by allowing the presenting part to descend more slowly (Shorten, Donsante, & Shorten, 2002).
The episiotomy tradition
Experts believed an incision would heal better than a natural tear. The procedure was also thought to help preserve the muscles and connective tissue that support the pelvic floor. Today, however, research suggests that routine episiotomies don't prevent these problems after all.
Benefits of laboring in water
A positive birth experience: Women who have labored or given birth in water say they had less pain and a greater sense of control. Less pain medication: Some studies show that women who labor in water need less pain medication and may have a shorter first stage of labor.
There's no rule that says you must give birth lying flat on your back in a bed. You can choose to move around and into different positions throughout your baby's birth. It's your choice. Birthing positions can help you to feel in control, reduce pain and open your pelvis to help the baby come out.
While the experience is different for everyone, labor can sometimes feel like extremely strong menstrual cramps that get progressively more and more intense as time goes on1.
Kissing, sharing drinks, or transferring things from mouth to mouth can transmit RSV. Washing your hands, covering your coughs and sneezes, and avoiding contact when you are sick will decrease the spread and help protect our littlest family members.
Jill Everest has seen plenty of women in labor before and says women generally have their most difficult birth the first time around. She said generally the birth of the second child would be fast, and the third child would be faster than the mother's first but slower than the second.
Vaginal delivery
It's the most preferred and most common way to deliver a baby because it carries the lowest risk (in most cases). A vaginal delivery occurs most often between weeks 37 and 42 of pregnancy.
There is a thick and durable membrane just under your baby's scalp that protects her brain, so gently touching the fontanelles won't hurt her. To help ensure your baby's head is protected, it's a good idea to remind friends, family members, and caregivers to be careful and gentle with your baby's head.
Are breech babies more painful to carry? The good news: Breech presentation doesn't typically cause discomfort or pain during pregnancy, Samuel says.
Does baby always drop before you go into labor? Your baby won't necessarily drop before labor begins — whether it's your first pregnancy or a subsequent one. If yours doesn't, don't worry. When or whether baby drops and you experience lightening will have no impact on your labor.
Midwives are affected by the setting where they work, and research highlights that an epidural might lead to a focus on medical procedures instead of the normality of labour.
The biggest benefit of an epidural is undoubtedly pain relief during labor and through delivery. After the 10 to 20 minutes needed for an epidural to take effect, many individuals find that an epidural provides them with an easier, less stressful birth experience.
For example, you have a right to refuse induction, decide whether or not to get an epidural, eat and drink during labor, and give birth in the position of your choice. You have the right to choose where to labor and give birth and leave the hospital or birth center against medical advice.
C-section.
If you might be scheduled for a C-section, your nurse might shave off your pubic hair on a selected area.
For most people, active labor is more painful than pushing because it lasts longer, gets more and more intense as it progresses, and involves many muscles, ligaments, organs, nerves, and skin surfaces.
A lotus birth is the decision to leave your baby's umbilical cord attached after they are born. The umbilical cord remains attached to the placenta until it dries and falls off by itself. What are the risks of lotus birth? There are no research studies available on this topic.
When you give birth vaginally and your baby is crowning (their head is visible in your vaginal opening), you may feel what's known as the "ring of fire." The ring refers to the circle your baby's head makes as it pushes on and stretches your vaginal opening, and the fire refers to the burning, stinging sensation you ...
How long does it take a vaginal tear to heal? Most women feel relief from any pain caused by a vaginal tear in about two weeks. If your tear required stitches, they will dissolve within six weeks.