Pregnancy - Final Stages
<p><b>What happens in the Delivery Room?</b></p><p>Just like that, the time has flown by and you’re at the end of your third trimester. Well done Mum, you did it. It’s time to prepare for the arrival of your bundle of joy.</p>
<p>What can you expect in the delivery room? Every birth is different, get to know what to expect before it’s time to check in to the hospital. Let’s unpack.</p>
<p><b>Arrival</b></p>
<p>If you have a birth plan that you’d like the hospital to follow, show your midwife so they know what you would like to happen during labour, this can be discussed with your OBGYN beforehand too. When the time comes, you’ll most likely give birth in the delivery room, unless you have a C-section, where you’ll be moved to an operating room.</p>
<p>How do you intend to handle the pain? Well, if you’re going medication-free or would like to wait before getting an epidural, you may want to walk around or take a shower or bath to deal with the pain. Your nurse will put the monitors on you periodically to check on the baby’s heart rate and your contractions.</p>
<p>If you want to go the epidural route, there’s no specific time to request it. You might have to wait a bit for an anaesthesiologist, from when you make your request before you are pain-free.</p>
<p><b>Examination</b></p>
<p>With your permission, the midwife will ask you about what has been happening so far and will examine you. If you're having a homebirth, this examination will take place at home. The midwife will ask to:</p>
<p>•<span style="white-space:pre;"> </span>Take your pulse, temperature, and blood pressure, and check your urine.</p>
<p>•<span style="white-space:pre;"> </span>Feel your abdomen to check the baby's position and record or listen to your baby's heart.</p>
<p>•<span style="white-space:pre;"> </span>Conduct an internal examination to see how much your cervix has opened, so they can then tell how far your labour has progressed. Tell your midwife if a contraction is coming before they perform this examination so that they can wait until it has passed.</p>
<p>•<span style="white-space:pre;"> </span>These checks will be repeated at intervals throughout your labour. Feel free to ask about anything you want to know.</p>
<p><b>Delivery room/labour ward</b></p>
<p>Most delivery rooms have easy chairs, bean bags and mats, so you can move about in labour and change positions. Some have baths, showers, or birthing pools to help ease the pain. You should feel comfortable in the room where you are giving birth.</p>
<p>As you dilate to 10 centimetres and start to push, an OBGYN will join the labour and delivery nurses in the room to assist. This may or may not be the usual practitioner you have been seeing throughout your pregnancy, but rest assured that you’re in safe hands and this is normal.</p>
<p>You did it! After the birth, a doctor or nurse may place your baby on your chest for some rest and bonding time. Then they’ll weigh and measure your baby, take some footprints and run some routine tests.</p>
<p><b>After birth</b></p>
<p>At the time of birth, your baby will be lifted onto your chest for skin-to-skin contact. Your midwife or doctor will inspect your perineum and vaginal wall to see if you have any tears that need repairing with stitches.</p>
<p>Your midwife will check your baby, your pulse and blood pressure and for vaginal blood loss and the firmness of your fundus (the top of the uterus). Soon, your baby will have its first breastfeed.</p>
<p>You’ll stay in the delivery room or a separate recovery room for a couple of hours after vaginal birth or C-section. If you have a Caesarean section, your experience will be different, and you can expect to stay in hospital for a few days.</p>
<p>In no time, you’ll be ready to take your baby home, after your doctors ensure it’s safe.</p>
