Types of delivery

Vaginal birth

Most women will have their babies through a vaginal delivery. In a vaginal birth, the baby comes out through the birth canal. If your baby’s head does not move as expected through the birth canal, your doctor may use forceps or vacuum extraction to help move your baby.

Cesarean birth

A Cesarean birth (or C-section) is the delivery of a baby through an incision in the mother’s belly. Moms are usually awake during the birth and can see her baby right away. Most C-sections are done when unexpected problems happen during labor or delivery such as health problems in mom or baby, the baby’s position or not enough room for the baby to go through the vagina.

Click on Cesarean Section for more information.

Vaginal birth after a C-section

It used to be that if a woman had one baby via C-section, she had to have all her babies the same way. Today, many women who have a C-section can have a vaginal birth later. This option will depend on the type of incision you had for your C-section and the reason(s) for your prior C-section.

Click on Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (VBAC) for more information.