There’s no second thought that motherhood is a gift and one of the most beautiful phases of one’s life. But the period that precedes it, that is when you are carrying your baby in the womb, those 9 months is a mix of varied emotions. Sometimes you feel happy, sometimes tired, and frequently confused for what’s to come. It mostly happens to new mothers (first baby), they aren’t very well with the knowledge about the last phase of pregnancy and therefore panic. Keeping in view the anxieties and frequent questions that pop up in mind at this time, we have some useful information that might come handy to you:

What is delivery?

Delivery is the term generally used for the process that leads to childbirth, often called as the ‘labor’ as well. In more official terms, it’s the end of the pregnancy period as the baby or babies leave the mother’s uterus normally or with the help of cesarean.

Normal

The normal mode of giving birth is when the baby passes through the vaginal passage of the mother under normal circumstances. The process is initiated when the woman is in labor. The labor can be divided into three stages to understand it well:

Latent Phase: It’s the longest one when the contractions become frequent which facilitates your cervix to dilate in order to help your baby pass through the birth canal. You might feel a bit of discomfort, but it isn’t the most painful part.

Active Phase: The dilation of the cervix takes place more promptly in this stage and you might feel intense pain in your back and abdomen area due to that. The urge to push down increases but the doctor recommends holding till the cervix is completely open.

Transition Phase: It’s when the cervix is completely open and the mother experiences strong and painful contractions frequently and lasting much longer.

At this point, the doctor asks you to push and through force, the child baby is born through the birth canal.

Cesarean

A C-section or Cesarean Section is the process of giving birth through a surgical incision in the mother’s abdomen and uterus. Some mothers now days prefer C-section over normal delivery, in that case, the surgery is scheduled in advance. For others, it is performed only under unanticipated circumstances.

Labour Pains

Labor pains are towards the end of your pregnancy. You might feel cramps or pains similar to pre-menstrual /period pain. Your waters may break and you feel your lower abdomen and back aching. The intensity of pain and contractions is different for a different woman, so it cannot be generalized as such, though the symptoms remain the same.

Common indications of Cesarean

Some of the signs that indicate you might require to go for a cesarean include the following:

  • Repeated C-sections in the past.
  • Complications in the lower genital tract that might interfere with the birth of the fetal head.
  • Pelvic abnormalities.
  • Cardiac conditions which required avoiding certain procedures to be followed during vaginal Birth.
  • Infected Fetus.
  • Abnormal Placenta