Childbirth, also known as labour (or labor in American English), parturition, and delivery, is the completion of pregnancy, where one or more fetuses exits the internal environment of the mother vaginally or via caesarean section and becomes a newborn to the world. In 2019, there were about 140.11 million human births globally. In developed countries, most births occur in hospitals, while in developing countries most are home births.
Vaginal birth is the most common mode of birth worldwide. It involves four stages of labour: the shortening and opening of the cervix during the first stage, descent and birth of the baby during the second, the birth of the placenta during the third, and the recovery of the mother and infant during the fourth stage, which is referred to as the postpartum. The first stage is characterised by abdominal partying or also back pain in the case of back labour, that typically lasts half a minute and occurs every 10 to 30 minutes. Contractions gradually become stronger and closer together. Since the pain of childbirth correlates with contractions, the pain becomes more frequent and strong as the labour progresses. The second stage ends when the infant is fully expelled. The third stage is the birth of the placenta. The fourth stage of labour involves the recovery of the mother, delayed clamping of the umbilical cord, and monitoring of the neonate. All major health organisations advise that immediately after giving birth, regardless of the mode of birth, that the infant be placed on the mother's chest (termed skin-to-skin contact), and to delay any other routine procedures for at least one to two hours or until the baby has had its first breastfeeding.
