Midwifery and Birth Management

Human fertilization takes place in the fallopian tube. Many people believe that human fertilization occurs in the vagina, but this is not the instance. Once sperm enter the vagina, they can transfer through the cervix, into the uterus, and to the end of a fallopian tube. If a sperm is able to penetrate an ovum, fertilization occurs.

The condition of carrying a developing embryo or fetus within the female body is described as Pregnancy. This state can be can be made known by positive results on an over-the-counter urine test, and confirmed over a blood test, ultrasound, detection of fetal heartbeat, or an X-ray. Pregnancy lasts for about nine months, stately from the date of the woman's last menstrual period (LMP). It is usually divided into three trimesters, each roughly three months long.

Every woman's labor is distinctive, even from one pregnancy to the next. Sometimes labor is over in a substance of hours. In some cases, labor tests a mother's physical and emotional endurances. You won't know how labor and childbirth will unfold until it take place. You can prepare, however, by considering the typical sequence of events.

Preterm labor is labor that begins early, before 37 weeks of pregnancy. Labor is the process your body goes through to give birth to your baby. Preterm labor can lead to premature birth. Premature birth is when your baby is born early, before 37 weeks of pregnancy. Your baby needs about 40 weeks in the womb to grow and develop before birth. About 1 in 10 babies is born prematurely each year in the United States.

Giving birth is a life-changing event. The care that a female receives during labor has the potential to affect her – both physically and emotionally, in the short and longer term – and the health of her baby. Good communication, support and concern from staff, and having her wishes valued, can help her feel in control of what is happening and contribute to making birth a positive experience for the woman and her birth companion.

Labor induction — also acknowledged as inducing labor — is the stimulation of uterine contractions during pregnancy before labor is initiated on its own to complete a vaginal birth. A health care provider might commend labor induction for various reasons, primarily when there's concern for a mother's health or a baby's health. A C-section might be scheduled ahead of time if you develop pregnancy complications or you've had a former C-section and aren't considering a vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC). Often, however, the need for a first-time C-section doesn't become evident until labor is underway.

Pain seems to be the number one thing that a lot of individuals worry about when it comes to being pregnant and going into labor. Many doctors and labor and delivery nurses believe strongly in the pain relief perception. They believe that pain during labor is unnecessary in today’s society and that we should eliminate pain, and that the aids of pain medications always outweigh the risks.

Skilled attendance at labor is considered the most critical intervention for ensuring safe motherhood. Unfortunately, in many countries mothers and babies are put at risk because services do not meet the commended standards for providing life-saving care. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 303,000 mothers and 2.7 million neonatal infants die annually around the time of childbirth. Much of this could be stopped. Quality of care is precedence for decreasing preventable maternal and child deaths.

The midwife works in partnership with women, on their own professional responsibility, to give women the necessary support, care and assistance during pregnancy, labor and the postpartum period up to six weeks, to ease births and to provide care for the newborn. The midwife understands, encourages and facilitates the physiological procedures of pregnancy and childbirth, identifies complications. The midwife has a significant task in health counseling, practice and education, not only for the women, but also within the community.

Most women take some kind of drug, substance or medication during pregnancy, at times without realizing the potential for harm. Drugs or medication taken by the mother may cross the placenta and reach the evolving fetus. The possible effects may include developmental delay, cerebral disability, birth deficiencies, miscarriage and still birth.

After a baby, it is common for new mothers and fathers to feel teary and incredulous because of the changes in their hormones and lifestyle. Perinatal depression, however, is more severe than that. When people have perinatal depression, they may feel impotent to cope with their new role as a parent, seldom irritated and frustrated, anxious about the baby – whether they are sleeping, eating or crying enough, or too ample.

Women's health refers to the division of medicine that emphasizes on the cure and diagnosis of diseases and conditions that affect a woman's health. Exact causes of some uterine diseases are unidentified; it is thought that abnormal hormones play a role in many of them.

The choice of birth control method depends on several factors, such as the desire for reversible birth control (preserving future fertility) or permanent birth control methods (surgical sterilization). Some birth control methods have advanced effectiveness rates than others, but no method of birth control is 100% effective in all cases.

The neonatal period is defined as the first month of life; however, these infants are often sick for months. A few neonatal nurses may care for newborns up to about 2 years of age. Most neonatal nurses care for babies from the time of birth until they are discharged from the hospital.

A subspecialty of obstetrics apprehensive with the care of the mother and fetus at higher-than-normal risk for complications. Since, the perinatal period, depending on the definition, starts at the 20^th to 28^th week of gestation and ends 1 to 4 weeks after birth, perinatology cogently could be an obstetrical and pediatric subspecialty but, in practice, it is part of obstetrics. The comparable area of pediatrics is neonatology. A high-risk baby might be cared for by a perinatologist before birth and by a neonatologist after birth.

Pediatrics is concerned not only about immediate management of the ill child but also long term effects on quality of life, disability and survival. Pediatrics is different from adult medicine in more ways than one. The smaller body of an infant or neonate or a child is substantially different physiologically from that of an adult. So treating children is not like treating a miniature adult.

Gynecology deals with any ailment concerning the reproductive organs; uterus, fallopian tubes, cervix, ovaries and vagina. A gynecologist may also treat related problems in the bowel, bladder and urinary system since these are closely related to female reproductive organs. The obstetrician is trained in these and many other complications of childbirth and ensures both mother and baby is safely guided through all of the phases of pregnancy and childbirth.

The true burden of neonatal mortality in developing countries is unknown because many deaths occur in the home and are not reported. Limited epidemiological research indicates the main causes of neonatal deaths are infections, birth asphyxia, birth injuries, complications of preterm birth, and birth defects.

Endocrine disorders are significant causes of perioperative morbidity and mortality. Almost, all are linked with changes in fluid and electrolyte homeostasis and hemodynamic alterations from dysfunction of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis. Because nearly all tissues respond to endocrine hormones, endocrine diseases are connected with multisystem disease. Diabetes mellitus and thyroid disease are quite common during pregnancy. Most other endocrine disorders are either very rare or are linked with impaired fertility and consequently occur only rarely in parturients.