Baby Delivery and Hospital Procedures

What is in store for the pregnant woman on the verge of childbirth when she arrives at the hospital?

Usually she is escorted to her room and is given a complete shave and an enema. The latter makes her more comfortable in labor and frequently stimulates contractions to greater effectiveness. After preparation the patient is taken to her own room on the delivery floor where a nurse trained in the care of labor patients is in constant attendance. From time to time the obstetrician will drop in to do a rectal or vaginal examination to determine the progress of labor and whether any medication is needed for comfort.

The waiting period in the labor room ends when a small part of the baby’s head is visible at the entrance of the vagina, in a first pregnancy. The visible part of the head is usually about the size of a quarter or half dollar. However, a woman who has had children is taken to the delivery room with the onset of pushing sensations or when the cervix is dilated about four inches.
Delivery of The Baby

The delivery room is virtually the same as an operating room. There are anesthesia machines with tanks of gases. Everybody wears a cap, gown, and mask. The large table on which the patient lies on her back has stirrups to support the legs fully. Metal hand pieces or bars are available for the patient to push against during contractions. An overhead surgical light illuminates the birth area and an attached mirror allows the mother to watch the birth if she wishes.

As the patient’s legs are being put into the stirrups, the lower part of the table is slid under the remaining part and the patient’s vaginal area, lower abdomen and inner thighs are scrubbed with an antiseptic. The entire area is covered with a sheet with a window for the vaginal opening.

As the vagina becomes distended, the obstetrician usually does an episiotomy. This is an incision in the vaginal margin, done under local anesthesia. The purpose is to prevent the tearing of tissues as the baby’s head is extruded.

The baby’s head appears slowly during a contraction, with the face turned toward the floor. As the full head appears it rotates to the left or right. The shoulders are then born and the abdomen and lower extremities rapidly follow suit. Fluid remaining in the uterine cavity is expelled with a gush.

The baby, entering a world where it is “on its own” for the first time, begins to cry. Sometimes assistance is needed to initiate breathing. The umbilical cord is cut and the baby is placed in a heated crib. An identification tag identical to the one worn by the mother is placed on the baby’s wrist.

A resident physician who is present at delivery examines the baby thoroughly. He examines the heart, lungs, abdomen, eyes, nose, palate, notes if the rectum is open and, in boy babies, that the testicles are descended into the scrotum. A rubber bulb with a glass catheter is used to suck out the baby’s mouth, and frequently to draw fluid from the stomach to prevent it from being inadvertently inhaled into the baby’s lungs.