« Professionally Selected Educational & Developmental Toys | Home | Pain Relief During and After the Birth »

Understand Childbirth

 Childbirth (also called labour, birth, partus or parturition) is the culmination of a human pregnancy or gestation period with the delivery 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 delivery of the infant, and delivery of the placenta.
.
In some cases, childbirth is achieved through caesarean section, the removal of the neonate through the abdomen, rather than through vaginal delivery.

The mechanics of vaginal birth

newbornBecause 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 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.

One Response to “Understand Childbirth”

  1. The Caesarean Section delivery method Says:
    May 4th, 2009 at 2:34 pm

    [...] Understand Childbirth [...]

Comments