Vaginal or normal delivery

Vaginal or normal delivery is the safest and most common type of delivery. In this, the mom-to-be goes through proper labor and delivers without any surgery.

Breech delivery

This means that the baby is born bottom first, as opposed to a vertex delivery when he is born head first. When the baby is in a breech position the doctors may try and turn him so that his head is down - this will be done if it would be safer for the baby to be born headfirst. A breech birth is always undertaken in hospital and a doctor usually does the delivery. It occurs about five times out of a hundred.

Forceps delivery

Obstetric forceps are simple metal instruments, which can hold and cradle the baby's head. They can be used to help in delivery when there is delay during the second stage - the second stage should never continue longer than one hour, it is often a much shorter than that. Forceps delivery is now a very simple and safe procedure; there is no need to worry that the baby may be injured. The forceps will be used just to lift the baby's head out and speed things on; it is often a much safer way of delivering a baby than allowing him to be pushed out with difficulty.

Caesarian section

This is an operation to deliver the baby without the necessity of going through labour. It gets its name from a law in Roman times. The doctor may use this method of delivering before labour if they think that there will be some danger to the baby in the process of labour, or if they think that the bones of your pelvis are too small to let the baby through. It is also used during labour if the first stage becomes too long or if there is any worry about the baby's health, so that he must be born as soon as possible. The operation is done under general anesthetic, with the woman completely asleep or it can be done with an epidural anesthetic in which case the woman is able to see the baby immediately after birth and hear his first cry.

It is comparatively simple operation although it does take some time. The abdomen is opened, the lower part of the uterine opened cross-wise, and the baby is then quickly delivered. After the placenta has been removed, the muscle wall is carefully sewn up, as is the wall of the abdomen. It is this which is the most time consuming part of the operation.