(Medical help during) labor and delivery

Your health care team monitors you and your baby closely during labor and delivery. Most often, you will deliver your baby with very little help from us. But there are times you may need medical help to give birth. For instance, your cervix may fail to open or your baby may need help to get through the birth canal. Sometimes, this means that our plan for a vaginal birth may change to a cesarean delivery to make sure you and your baby are safe.

Standard medical practice during your labor includes:

• Fetal heart monitoring to monitor the baby’s oxygen status. This helps us to know if the baby might be in distress.
• Sterile vaginal exams to check if your cervix is continuing to change by thinning and opening.

Additional help for some women could include:

• Labor induction and augmentation may be needed to help open your cervix so the baby can deliver through the birth canal. This may include rupturing the amniotic sac (bag of water), using medicine to soften (ripen) the cervix, and using medicine to stimulate contractions.

Antibiotics if you tested positive for group B strep during your pregnancy or develop a fever in labor.