In preparation for the birth of your baby, your cervix effaces (thins and stretches) and dilates (opens) so your baby can fit through the birth canal. This cervical ripening can begin days or even ...

In contemporary practice, most providers aim to admit women to the labor unit when cervical dilation is expected to become more rapid (i.e., at the onset of the active phase of labor). Authors of ...

If you're pregnant and your due date is fast approaching, it's important to be able to recognize the signs that you're dilating and in labor. To help you better understand the stages of labor, the ...

Pregnancy labor can be very painful and terrible. If you are pregnant, knowing a few things can make labor easy and go through a delivery with much ease. It will, of course, be helpful when you are ...

Cervical dilation sounds pretty intense, but if you are in labor, it's going to happen. The question is, how do you know if you're dilated and ready to deliver your baby? The cervix is a magical ...

To evaluate whether second trimester pregnancy termination with dilation and evacuation (D&E) vs induction of labor (IOL) affects subsequent risk of preterm birth. There were 173 women in our cohort.

Pregnant women whose labor stalls while in the active phase of childbirth can reduce health risks to themselves and their infants by waiting out the delivery process for an extra two hours, according ...

Chances are, if you get pregnant today, you’re going to have a vaginal birth. Though women are redefining the birthing experience in so many ways, most births—about 70%—still happen vaginally. We ...

Nurses at the Royal Oldham Hospital in Lancashire have taken a much-loved holiday – Halloween – and made it even more scary. They turned the humble pumpkin into an educational tool on childbirth, with ...

Jeremy L. Neal, CNM, RNC, PhD; Nancy K. Lowe, CNM, PhD; Karen L. Ahijevych, RN, PhD; Thelma E. Patrick, RN, PhD; Lori A. Cabbage, CNM, FNP, MSN; Elizabeth J. Corwin ...