Delivery of Your Baby

Becoming a mother is surely the most exciting and challenging time of a woman’s life. After all the hard work, pain, and anticipation of nine months, it’s now time to make the final moves and cradle your baby in your arms!

Up until the induction of labor, you can’t do much to accelerate the process of childbirth, but things are going to change once you’ve been through labor and your cervical dilation is complete. You’ll now start pushing and help your baby come out through the birth canal.

A normal delivery of your baby usually takes about thirty minutes to an hour. The delivery of second babies is faster and less laborious. But the process is individualized and it can vary in duration from a few minutes to several hours. We’ve devised a detailed guide about the procedure, tips and techniques of delivery of your baby after labor has been induced.

How Will You Know it’s Time to Push

At this stage of your labor, the contractions will become more regular than the contractions of advanced or transitional labor. They will have duration of about 60 to 90 seconds but they’ll be further apart (usually about 2 to 5 minutes). You’ll easily notice a rest period between your contractions, though there might still be problems in recognizing the onset of these contractions.

You can expect the following noticeable changes during this phase.

A massive urge to push, though it might not be the case with women who’ve had an epidural.
Extreme rectal pressure.
A big burst of energy, usually know as second wind, followed by fatigue.
Your contractions will become very visible and your uterus will rise with each contraction.
A stretching, tingling, stinging, or burning sensation at your vagina as the baby’s head is about to emerge.
Finally, a wet slippery feeling as the head of your baby shows up.

Beneficial Pushing Tips

In order to start pushing, you can move into a comfortable pushing position and carefully follow the guidance of your birthing center staff or practitioner. You’ll be required to push at regular intervals, normally three times for each contraction. However, you can push whenever you feel the urge.

Let’s have a look at some handy pushing tips:

Push like you’re having A Massive Bowel Movement: It’s time to relax your thighs and your body and push as if you are facing the biggest bowel movement you’ve ever encountered. It’s important to direct all your focus on pushing, do NOT worry about whether you’ll pass urine or empty your bowel during this procedure. This is absolutely normal for every delivering woman and people who’re there for your assistance completely understand this situation. There’s no need to feel embarrassed about it.
You Can Tuck The Chin To Your Chest: Most of the women are propped up on their backs, in such cases, make sure to put the chin to your chest when you push. This act will focus your pushed to the desired area.
Apply Your Full Force: The more aggressively you push, the more rapidly the baby will come out of your birth canal. So keep your motivation up and put all your energy into your efforts.
Stay Focused: You must maintain your focus and avoid mindless, frantic pushing. Don’t ever push from your upper body or toil your face. This can give you blood red eyes and even bruises on your face.
You Can Change Positions: If the pushing isn’t helping your baby move down the birth canal, you can switch positions. Upright positioning of squatting, sitting or standing, greatly allows the gravity to help you push.
Learn To Trust Your Instincts: While you can feel the contraction building up, take deep breaths and then push with all your courage. You can hold your breath or exhale while you push. Do whatever feels comfortable to you. Simply follow your natural urges and you’ll successfully deliver the baby.
Take Rest Between Contractions: You need to conserve your energy and strength, so rest up before the next round of contractions begin. Your practitioner may even ask you not to push for a couple of contractions so that you can recover some of your strength. If there’s a very strong urge to push, you can blow or pant instead.
You Can Keep Your Eyes On The Mirror: You’ll get inspired if you have something to look at, like witnessing the crown of your baby’s head. This can be highly motivational when pushing gets tough. But you must also remember that pushing is a process with two steps forward and one step backward. So don’t get disappointed when the baby’s head disappears again, you’re really close to the finishing line now!

The Activities of Your Medical Team

When you’re pushing, your medical team will give you directions and support, and continuously monitor the heartbeat of the baby with a fetal monitor. They’ll also arrange the instruments and spread sterile drapes to prepare for the delivery. The nurse will sponge your perineal area with proper antiseptics. If required, the staff can also perform vacuum extraction or use forceps to help the baby come out.

The Procedures after the Baby’s Head Comes Out

When the head of your baby finally comes out of your vagina, the following procedures will be performed by the medical staff:

The doctor will suction all the mucus from the mouth and nose of the baby, then guide and direct the shoulders and lower body of your child to come out. You’ll be required to give just one small push to help with this process.
The practitioner will cut and clamp the umbilical cord.
The baby will either be placed on your stomach or handed to you. It’s recommended to make skin to skin contact with your baby, because studies have proven that those babies who get skin contact right after delivery remain calm for hours and sleep better.
You’ll be required to perform the last push to get the placenta out of your body.

We sincerely hope that this guideline proves to be highly beneficial for all the expecting mothers and eases up the process of delivering the baby to a great extent and you welcome motherhood on a high note!