Other names :
Labour, confinement, accouchment.
Types :
May be natural through the vagina, interventional through the vagina (eg: forceps, ventouse), or interventional by Caesarean section. Other rarely used techniques exist.
Investigations :
Ultrasound probes monitor the baby’s heart rate during labour. Monitors may also check the mother’s blood pressure and pulse.
Complications :
Birth is a very natural act, and the traditional method has served womankind well for millions of years, and is still by far the best way to have a baby, but some women have complications that make medical intervention essential. Complications can occur very suddenly and unexpectedly, which makes birth away from a centre where adequate facilities are available risky for both mother and child.
Outcome :
The vast majority of pregnancies end successfully in modern centres. The perinatal mortality (death rate of babies) in Australia is now less than 9 in a thousand. Maternal deaths are now extremely rare in developed countries, but a century ago, and in third world countries today, one third of all female deaths were due to childbirth.
Further information:
Physiotherapists conduct antenatal classes at all maternity hospitals and in many private clinics on what to expect, and how to cope in childbirth. All mothers should attend such classes. Childbirth Education Associations exist in all major cities.
Medical curiosity :
Julius Caesar was purportedly delivered from his dead mother, alive and well, after her belly was cut open immediately upon her demise, giving rise to the common name for the operative delivery of a baby.
