What Are the Different Types of Childbirth?

Childbirth is a monumental feat that women achieve every day. The process is exhausting; both physically and mentally. But, fortunately medical science has evolved to provide women with plenty of option other than natural birth. New techniques and medicines can help dampen pain and smoothen the delivery process with minimal complications and risks.

Expectant mothers need to know about their options and choose an easier delivery method.Here is a list of different types of childbirth available today. The best hospitals for delivery in Delhi will offer them and perhaps more.

1. Vaginal Birth

Babies when born through the birth canal of a woman’s body, the process is called vaginal birth. Many also refer to this as “natural birthing”. Usually after 40 weeks of gestation or a little before that, women experience labour pains, where the cervix starts dilating and fetal ejection reflex (contractions) start happening in the uterus. Usually after the cervix is dilated about 10 cm, the mother is asked to push the baby out. Sometimes labour is induced in certain complications using drugs given intravenously.

There are a lot of options to make mothers comfortable during this process, including use of epidural (local anaesthetic in spinal cord), warm water immersion, massage, aromatherapy and birthing coaches. Vaginal deliveries are suggested to women, who plan to have more children in the future. It is also associated with advantages like shorter hospital stays, less risks of infection and quicker post-partum recoveries.

2. Caesarean Section

Not all births happen normally, and often doctors have to use surgical methods in complications like a breech baby or placenta previa. A C-section consists of a small incision made in the mother’s abdominal wall and the uterus wall to remove the baby. The process can be done under general anaesthesia or a spinal epidural.

C-sections are associated with longer hospital stays, pain around incision sites and sometimes complications from anaesthesia. But, it is the safest option in emergency situations and special circumstances like multiple pregnancies (twins or triplets), birth canal blockage or a very large baby.

3. Forceps Delivery

This is an assisted delivery method during normal vaginal delivery. If for some reason the baby gets stuck inside the birth canal the doctor uses forceps (an instrument shaped like large tongs or a pair of spoons) on the baby’s head and gently guides them out of the birth canal. The rest of the baby is delivered normally.

This is commonly used if the mother gets too tired to push or due to presence of small obstructions.

4. Vacuum Delivery

Similar to forceps extraction, this is also another assisted delivery method for vaginal birth. Here, in place of forceps, the doctor uses a specialized vacuum pump to be inserted to the baby up the birth canal. Vacuum is created, where a soft cup attaches itself to the baby’s head and slowly guides the baby out of the canal, with the assistance of the mother’s contractions.

The pump could leave a bruise on the baby’s head, but this resolves after a few hours.

5. Vaginal Birth after Caesarean (VBAC)

Nowadays, a woman is able to have a natural birth even after giving birth through C-section in prior pregnancies. This could be a high-risk birth method, and typically only the best hospitals for delivery in Delhi will be equipped to handle it. Often, a woman will require emergency C-section during the process, which requires additional staff, nurses and experienced doctors. Not all women can be candidates for VBAC, which is why doctors’ advice must be heeded.

All techniques have their pros and cons, and only a qualified medical professional will be able to suggest the safest option. This is because every pregnancy is different and so is the pain threshold of every woman.