CHAPTER 4: BIRTH AND PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT DURING THE FIRST THREE YEARS

The Birth Process


Labor 

an apt term for the process of giving birth.


Parturition

The act or process of giving birth, and it typically begins about 2 weeks before delivery.


Braxton-Hicks Contractions

A woman may have felt false contractions at times during the final months of pregnancy, or even as early as the second trimester, when the muscles of the uterus tighten for up to 2 minutes.


STAGES OF CHILDBIRTH


  • Stage 1: Dilation of the Cervix

    • dilation of the cervix, is the longest, typically lasting 12 to 14 hours for a woman having her first child

    • This stage lasts until the cervix is fully open (10 centimeters, or about 4 inches) so the baby can descend into the birth canal.


  • Stage 2: Descent and Emergence of the Baby

    • typically lasts up to an hour or two

    • At the end of this stage, the baby is born but is still attached to the placenta in the mother’s body by the umbilical cord, which must be cut and clamped


  • Stage 3: Expulsion of the Placenta

    • lasts between 10 minutes and 1 hour.

    • the placenta and the remainder of the umbilical cord are expelled from the mother


Electronic Fetal Monitoring 

  • Mechanical monitoring of fetal heartbeat during labor and delivery.


  • Can be used to track the fetus’s heartbeat during labor and delivery and to indicate how the fetal heart is responding to the stress of uterine contractions.


  • Can provide valuable information in high-risk deliveries.


Vaginal Delivery

The usual method of childbirth


Cesarean Delivery

Delivery of a baby by surgical removal from the uterus.


Forceps

An instrument shaped like a large pair of salad tongs used to grasp and pull the head.

Breech Position

feet or buttocks first


Transverse Position 

Lying crosswise in the uterus or when the head is too big to pass through the mother’s pelvis.


Oxytocin

Involved in a variety of positive social interactions outside of the maternal relationship as well. For example, nasal sprays of oxytocin can help people who are low in social competence accurately read the emotions of others.


Postpartum Endometriosis

A painful condition in which uterine cells are found outside the uterus.



MEDICATED VERSUS NONMEDICATED DELIVERY


Natural Childbirth 

Method of childbirth that seeks to prevent pain by eliminating the mother’s fear through education about the physiology of reproduction and training in breathing and relaxation during delivery.


Prepared Childbirth 

Method of childbirth that uses instruction, breathing exercises, and social support to induce controlled physical responses to uterine contractions and reduce fear and pain.


The Lamaze Method

  • Introduced by the French obstetrician Fernand Lamaze in the late 1950s

  • Acknowledges that labor is painful and teaches expectant mothers to work actively with their bodies through controlled breathing.


LeBoyer method

Introduced in the 1970s, a woman gives birth in a quiet room under low lights to reduce stress, and the newborn is gently massaged to ease crying. 




Submersion of the Laboring Mother

Developed by the French physician Michael Odent, is a submersion of the laboring mother in a soothing pool of water. Other methods use mental imagery, massage, gentle pushing, and deep breathing. 


Bradley Method

Perhaps the most extreme, which rejects all obstetrical procedures and other medical interventions.


Pudendal Block

Local (vaginal) anesthesia usually during the second stage of labor.


Analgesic (painkiller)

Reduces the perception of pain by depressing the activity of the central nervous system.


Regional Anesthesia or Epidural

  • Which can be injected into a space in the spinal cord between the vertebrae in the lumbar (lower) region. 


  • This blocks the nerve pathways that would otherwise carry the sensation of pain to the brain.


Doula 

An experienced mentor who furnishes emotional support and information for a woman during labor.



The Newborn Baby


Neonatal Period 

First 4 weeks of life, a time of transition from intrauterine dependency to independent existence.


Neonate or Newborn

  • Newborn baby, up to 4 weeks old. 

  • An average neonate in the United States is about 20 inches long and weighs about 7½ pounds

  • Boys tend to be slightly longer and heavier than girls, and a firstborn child is likely to weigh less at birth than laterborns.


Fontanels 

Where the bones of the skull do not meet.


Lanugo

A fuzzy prenatal hair, has not yet fallen off. 


Vernix Caseosa (“cheesy varnish”)

Almost all new babies are covered with this, an oily protection against infection that dries within the first few days.


“Witch’s milk” 

A secretion that sometimes leaks from the swollen breasts of newborn boys and girls around the 3rd day of life, was believed during the Middle Ages to have special healing powers.


Anoxia

lack of oxygen


Hypoxia

A reduced oxygen supply


Meconium

  • A stringy, greenish-black waste matter formed in the fetal intestinal tract.

  • During the first few days, infants secrete this


Neonatal Jaundice 

Condition, in many newborn babies, caused by immaturity of liver and evidenced by yellowish appearance; can cause brain damage if not treated promptly.