Labour and birth
Induction, pain relief, caesarean and care during labour.
Care topics 1
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Labour is how the body prepares to give birth. It usually begins between 37 and 42 weeks of pregnancy and has three stages. In the first, contractions open the cervix. In the second, the baby is...
Drugs 2
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Dinoprostone is a prostaglandin, a hormone-like substance that the body makes in late pregnancy and that helps the cervix soften and open before labour. As a medicine it is placed in the vagina to...
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Oxytocin is a medicine made in the laboratory that copies a natural hormone, and it makes the womb contract. It is given by drip or injection. This atlas meets it in two separate roles, kept on...
Fronts 3
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Pages about how care is organised: visit schedules, guidelines, campaigns, networks and the checks after leaving hospital.
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Pages about medicines and vaccines given in pregnancy, at birth, after birth or to the baby. Each page says who receives it, the mother or the baby.
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Pages about hands-on care around birth, such as starting labour, caesarean birth, clamping the cord and devices that help control bleeding.
Interventions 4
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A caesarean birth, also called a C-section, is surgery to deliver a baby. The baby is taken out through the mother's abdomen. Some caesareans are planned. Others are emergencies, done when unexpected...
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Continuous support means that someone stays with the woman through labour, such as a partner, a friend, a relative, a midwife or a doula, a trained helper. WHO recommends that every woman can have a...
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An epidural is an injection of local anaesthetic close to the nerves that carry pain from the womb. It is widely used for pain relief in labour. A 2018 Cochrane review of 40 trials found low-quality...
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Induction means starting labour with medicines or other methods instead of waiting for it to begin on its own. It is usually done when the due date has passed or when a problem with the pregnancy...
Products 3
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Cervidil is a dinoprostone vaginal insert with a US label from Ferring Pharmaceuticals, approved in the United States under application NDA020411. Its US label says it is for starting or continuing...
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A balloon catheter that dilates (opens) the cervix mechanically before labour is induced at term, when the cervix is not yet ready for induction. It is a mechanical option, not a medicine. In the...
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Pitocin is a brand of oxytocin injection with a US label from Par Health USA, approved in the United States under application NDA018261. Its US label says it is for starting or improving contractions...
Guidelines 1
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The 2018 WHO guideline on care during labour and birth. It sets out 56 recommendations for the whole of labour, from respectful care and a companion of the woman's choice to care in each stage of...
Studies 2
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A large trial in the United States that asked whether offering induction at 39 weeks to healthy first-time mothers leads to better results than waiting for labour to start on its own. About 6100...
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A Swedish trial in healthy women with a normal pregnancy near the end of term. It compared inducing labour at 41 weeks with waiting and inducing at 42 weeks if labour had not started. About 2760...
Organizations 1
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The United Nations agency for international public health.
Resources 1
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A tool from the World Health Organization for staff who care for women in labour. It supports good-quality, evidence-based and respectful care during labour and birth. A WHO expert group developed...