Labour and birth

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 pushed out and born. In the third, the placenta is delivered. Some labours are started with medicines or other methods, which is called induction. Some births happen by caesarean surgery instead. Mothers and babies are watched closely throughout.

Care topic
In this atlas

Overview

Technical summary

Hub for the labour and birth records in this atlas: the intrapartum care guideline and the Labour Care Guide, induction of labour (two large trials, oxytocin, dinoprostone, a cervical ripening balloon), caesarean birth, epidural pain relief, a companion in labour, eclampsia and its treatment, and the third stage of labour (uterotonics, a bleeding-prevention medicine, a bundle for early detection of bleeding). Sources: the MedlinePlus Childbirth topic and the NIH Labor and Delivery topic, both fetched on 2026-10-14. It links to the shared MedlinePlus identity in core.

Scope

Labour and birth: the stages of labour, how labour is started, pain relief, support in labour, caesarean birth and the third stage of labour.

Life stages: Childbirth
Care setting: Not reported

Claims and evidence

No claims are published for this care topic yet.

Clinical links

Each link reports what one cited claim says about one population. "Evaluated for" means studied, not shown to work. These links do not show that anything is effective or right for you.

Claim, not a settled fact Recommended for this: Continuous support and a companion in labour (Recommended for, seen from the other side)
Applies to Maternal
- All women in labour. The recommendation covers the whole of labour and childbirth and is not limited by risk or setting. The companion can be any person the woman chooses, such as a partner, a friend or relative, a community member or a doula, and WHO adds that her wishes must be respected, including a wish not to have a companion.
- Not stated in the source
- Global (WHO guidance intended to inform national and local policy).
- Labour and childbirth
- Gestational age Not reported
- Postnatal age Not reported
Follow-up Not applicable (recommendation context)
WHO 2018 recommends that a companion of the woman's choice be present for all women throughout labour and childbirth (Recommendation 3, category Recommended). The companion can be anyone she chooses, from family or friends to a trained doula. WHO adds that it is important that women's wishes are respected, including those who prefer not to have a companion, and that health care facilities need to take into account that finding a companion may be hard for some women and consider steps to ensure that support is always available.
Limitations. The WHO category (Recommended) is not a GRADE strength label, so the claim certainty is left not assessed. The evidence behind the recommendation, which WHO gives in the full guideline, was not read for this record. This claim is about the recommendation, not about the Cochrane review of continuous support, which has its own claim. WHO notes that finding a companion may be harder for marginalised or vulnerable women or for women who live far from a facility.

Record details

Record id: maternal:labour-and-birth
Content hash: 01e9a4ceda5f4f808a1aec010cd97ccd79fdd96a09fb4e82a0691410c2227cad