Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license.
Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat.
We can research this topic together.
This article is missing information about birth in non-human mammals
. Please expand the article to include this information. Further details may exist on the talk page. (October 2012)
This article may need to be rewritten to comply with Misplaced Pages's quality standards. You can help. The talk page may contain suggestions. (May 2009)
Moche ceramic vessel showing a woman giving birth. Larco Museum Collection. Lima-PeruBlue wildebeest giving calvingA woman giving birth on a birth chair, circa 1515
Afterbirth is synonymous with placenta, born following the birth of the infant.
Water birth is a birth where the mother delivers the child in a pool of water.
Birth canal is the term used for the vagina during birth, as it is the route through which the infant passes during a vaginal birth.
Birth control methods are devices, medications or behavior patterns employed to reduce the probability of pregnancy.
Birth doula is the term for a labor assistant who provides emotional support, physical comfort measures, and other assistance to expectant mothers, partners, families, and baby before, during, and after childbirth. A postpartum doula provides support after birth, and specializes in postpartum care for mother and infant, infant attachment, and other newborn care. The term "doula" stems from the Greek doulos, or "one who serves."
Birth pangs or labor pains are the pains felt by the mother during labor, resulting from contractions of the uterus and pressure on nerves and organs.
Childbirth is the process at the end of a human pregnancy that results in a baby being born.
Lotus birth is the practice of leaving the umbilical cord uncut after birth so that the baby is left attached to its placenta until the cord separates naturally.
Placenta is the organ in most female mammals, formed in the lining of the uterus by the union of the uterine mucous membrane with the membranes of the fetus, that provides for the nourishment of the fetus and the elimination of its waste products.
Unassisted childbirth (UC) is birth without the aid of medical or professional birth attendants. It is also known as freebirth.
Complications
A birth defect is a physical or mental abnormality present at the time of birth.
Birth trauma is a theory in pre- and perinatal psychology and natural medicine which hypothesizes that the baby experiences extreme pain during the birthing process, and that this pain influences the child later in life.
Complications may cause a miscarriage or spontaneous abortion to occur.
Infertility treatments are devices, medications, or behavior patterns to increase the probability of pregnancy.
Birth certificate is a legal document describing details of a person's birth.
Birthday is a day to celebrate that the person has lived a certain number of years. It is an annual event based either on the anniversary of a person's date of birth, or on astrological birthtime calculations.
A nuclear family comprising the fathers, mothers, brothers or sisters, is an institution where the members are related by birth, marriage, or a similar partnership or spousal relationship.
In some countries a person is considered of illegitimate birth if the child is born of parents not legally married to one another.
Spiritual meanings
Mother and child bonding, immediately after birth
Astrology is based upon the belief that an individual's life is influenced by the geocentric positions of the sun, moon, and planets in the sky or below the horizon at the moment of birth; a natal chart is calculated using the exact time, date, and place of birth to try to interpret these cyclical influences on a person's life.
Rebirth is a belief that a person is born again after their death based on the karma of their previous births.
Virgin birth of Jesus is the Muslim and Christian doctrine that asserts that Jesus Christ was born to a virgin, and thus that his conception was carried out without a father.
