What is skin-to-skin contact (SSC)? Skin-to-skin contact, also called “kangaroo care,” is when your baby is placed on your chest after birth instead of being wrapped in a blanket and placed in a crib or incubator (warmer). How do I have skin-to-skin contact with my baby? Your naked baby should be placed directly on your skin without a blanket or…
Healthy, physiologic birth means allowing your body to go through labor under its own innate power. It is the optimal functioning of childbirth, and is a safe process that includes labor, birth, and the first hour after birth for both you and your baby. Healthy birth does not routinely require medical intervention. Characteristics of healthy labor, birth, and the first…
Labor is the work that your body does to give birth to your baby. Your uterus contracts, your cervix (the mouth of the uterus) opens, and you push your baby out into the world. Experiences of labor are as unique and varied as the nearly 4 million women who give birth every year in the United States. Familiarizing yourself with…
Can you tell me more about using nitrous for pain control during labor? I found out that lots of people use it in the UK but I can’t find any hospital around me that offers it. What’s the deal? Is it not safe? —Sarah B. Hospitals in the U.S. are beginning to have nitrous oxide available to women for…