Birthing Your Baby: the Second Stage of Labour

Book excerpt: Meeting her baby for the very first time, is usually one of the most powerful and magical experiences of a woman's life. If surrounded by love, privacy and calmness, her body takes over and instinctively knows how to birth her baby, even if she hasn't had a baby before. While obstetric expertise and technology are invaluable for the mothers and babies who need them, too often, routine practices and interventions can make it more difficult for women to birth their babies straight forwardly using their own strengths and instincts. This book describes physiological birthing, looks at current beliefs and practices around birthing, examines some of the relevant research, and suggests how women can increase the likelihood of giving birth to their babies using there own efforts, without unnecessary interventions.