When your baby is born, you have decisions to make as parents about the treatment and care mom and baby will receive. Keep in mind that no one knows ahead of time how the birth will go and that you may change your minds during delivery.
Women who have had a caesarean (also known as a caesarean section or C-section) are often able to give birth to subsequent children vaginally. Approximately three in four women who prepare for a vaginal birth after a caesarean (VBAC) do give birth vaginally.
If your baby is positioned with his feet or buttocks facing downward (breech), your doctor or midwife may want to attempt to turn him at around 36 or 37 weeks. This technique, known as version, is used to move the baby into a head-down position and increases your odds of having a vaginal birth. The version procedure is performed at the hospital.
No one can predict when and how your labour will begin. Most women will recognize labour because of certain telltale signs, such as contractions or their waters breaking. It’s normal at that point to feel excited or anxious.
Towards the end of your pregnancy, your doctor or midwife will explain to you the right time to head to the hospital or birthing centre. This will depend on the distance you have to travel, your previous deliveries, your health, and the state of your cervix.
In hospitals, certain drugs can be administered to ease birthing pains. The following options may be offered to you: an epidural, narcotics, nitrous oxide gas, or a pudendal nerve block.
The pain of labour is unique and serves a purpose. It signals the start of the opening process that will lead to the birth of your baby. This process happens gradually. A rhythm develops and the intensity of the pain steadily increases.
Throughout labour your body undergoes changes to allow your baby to make his way to the world outside. Labour is divided into these three main stages: First stage: Thinning and opening of the cervix (also called dilation); Second stage: Descent and birth of your baby; Third stage: Delivery of the placenta.
The first stage of labour is the period when your contractions start to be regular. These contractions allow the cervix to thin (efface) and open completely (dilate), until it is 10 centimetres wide.
The second stage of labour begins when your baby has dropped well down into your pelvis and the cervix is fully open (dilated). The baby can now descend into your vagina to be born.
Government of Quebec
Government of Quebec
