Kneeling, on the bed or floor, leaning against a large pile of pillows, or supported by a partner. Some women may feel more comfortable with one knee up. Squatting, supported by partner behind, or holding onto a bar. The woman should stand to rest between contractions.
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. A vaginal delivery has three stages: labor, birth and delivering the placenta.
Vaginal delivery is the most common and safest type of childbirth. You'll probably hear the term “natural childbirth” used to describe a vaginal delivery without medication for pain or to start or speed up labor. Some mothers will still choose to have other medical help during labor like a monitor for the baby's heart.
Side-Lying
This is because it can open the pelvis more easily, and it gives control over pushing. After walking around at home for as long as she could, Genelle Adrian, 33, of Columbia, Maryland, gave birth to her daughter on her side.
Home Births
According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, or ACOG, while the overall risk is low, studies show that the risk of infant death is two to three times higher when giving birth at home. ACOG believes that hospitals and birthing centers are the safest settings for giving birth.
Women are three times more likely to die during a cesarean delivery than during a vaginal birth, due mostly to blood clots, infections and complications from anesthesia, according to a 2006 study published in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.
The greatest benefit of an epidural is the potential for a painless delivery. While you may still feel contractions, the pain is decreased significantly. During a vaginal delivery, you're still aware of the birth and can move around.
Pushing can be one of the most intense and exhausting parts of the labor and delivery process—and it can take anywhere from several minutes, up to a few hours to push your baby out.
Deliver in an upright, nonflat position.
There are a number of delivery positions that might reduce the risk of a vaginal tear during childbirth. Rather than lying down flat during delivery, deliver in an upright position. Your health care provider will help you find a comfortable and safe delivery position.
Whether it's sitting, walking or switching sides, before receiving an epidural, try to change your position often to ensure labor progresses. Audio analgesia, or using music, white noise or environmental sounds like waves crashing, boosts mood, reduces anxiety and stress, and can lessen pain during labor.
Squatting helps open your pelvis, giving your baby more room to rotate as he or she moves through the birth canal. Squatting also might allow you to bear down more effectively when it's time to push.
Natural Vaginal Delivery. Natural vaginal delivery is when your baby is born through the birth canal. This is the most common way to give birth because it is the body's natural method. In fact, roughly sixty-eight percent of women give birth vaginally every year.
Second Stage or Active Labor
The second stage is the most painful stage of labor. The baby passes through the cervix, through the pelvis and birth canal, and out through the vaginal opening. On average, it takes one to three hours from the time that the cervix becomes fully dilated to the birth of the baby.
Even though labor and vaginal birth can be hard work, they are generally easier on a woman's body than a cesarean. Recovery after vaginal birth is usually shorter and less painful than after a C-section, and allows the woman to spend more time with her baby.
The most common description of the level of pain experienced was extreme menstrual cramps (45 percent), while 16 percent said it was like bad back pain and 15 percent compared it to a broken bone.
Until recently, women have been asked to start pushing as soon as the cervix has dilated to 10 centimeters, but as long as you do not have a fever and your baby's heart rate is normal, there are many benefits to waiting to push until you feel the need to push.
Laboring down is the process of not actively pushing once the second stage of labor and intense contractions begin. Some people wait one to two hours before pushing, which allows the baby to naturally move down the birth canal. Laboring down has risks and benefits.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists considers 3 hours or more (especially with a first time mom and/or those with epidurals) to be perfectly normal.
Three to four pushing efforts of 6 to 8 seconds in length per contraction are physiologically appropriate (AWHONN, 2000; Roberts, 2002; Simpson & James, 2005). When the time is right for pushing, the best approach based on current evidence is to encourage the woman to do whatever comes naturally.
“The trend is, the larger the baby, the harder it is to deliver,” she says, “but that's actually just one factor in many that affect how the birth goes.”
Some people describe the feeling as being like intense period cramps, others say it feels like a tightening or pounding feeling in your uterus or across your belly, others describe the feeling as being like very intense muscle cramps, while still other people describe contractions as being like the sort of wrenching ...
Painless normal delivery or delivery with labor analgesia (Epidural) is a technique where very specific concentration of drug is used. Although the drug reduces the pain, it maintains the ability to push your baby out through the birth canal.
The cost of painless delivery may range between Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 10,000. The charges may vary depending upon the hospital.
Common options for coping with pain include massage, water therapy, and breathing exercises. Music and calming smells (aromatherapy) can help relax you. Consider taking short walks and changing positions during labor—moving around can reduce pain.