Childbirth is a  very special time in our lives. Most often, pregnant women are overwhelmed with worry about the entire process. This article will give you an overview of the process of delivering a child.

When a woman is ready for labour, contractions start and this can be quite startling. When these contractions are just five minutes apart, you are ready to start pushing the baby out.

During the first stage of labour, your cervix gradually opens, dilating up to four inches width. It becomes thinner as well. This process is called effacement. You should start bearing and pushing down only when the uterus is fully effaced and dilated. Only then does the delivery stage start.

Crowning is when the baby’s head becomes visible. A few minutes later, the baby is born. The placenta that helped to nourish your baby while in the womb also comes out. Doctors monitor the baby and mother very closely during childbirth. Most women are healthy and have a baby through normal delivery without any surgical procedure. In case complications arise, the baby needs to be delivered by a caesarean section. This is a brief summary of the birthing process.

Every mother’s birth experience is different but the day a woman had her baby will remain deeply etched in memory throughout her life. Let’s look at a step by step procedure of approaching child birth and labour. A few days before the onset of labour, you might feel extremely energetic. This is nature’s nesting instinct at play. When the baby is ready to be born, hormonal changes in the foetus can cause the placenta to release a substance called corticotrophin. Once it is released the cervix becomes softer, thinner and the onset of contractions is triggered off.

The baby now descends down or drops lower into the pelvis, thereby reducing pressure in the upper abdomen and relaxes your lungs. Small capillaries in the thinning cervix rupture discharging a brown vaginal fluid. Once contractions commence, uterine muscle spasms occur becoming repeatedly severe and painful as labour progresses. Now the amniotic sac ruptures and flows out through the vagina.

In the second stage of labour, the baby is pushed out through the birth canal. This is the natural way of child birth. There may be instances when vaginal births are not possible or can be a threat to the safety and life of the mother and child. In such cases, caesarean section or c-section is performed on the mother’s abdomen and the child is delivered.