Pregnancy, labor and childbirth are all normal functions of a healthy female body, but do commonly put a strain on your body and general physical condition. Your body has gone through numerous changes in the last several months and also needs to recover from the process of childbirth. It will gradually regain its pre-pregnancy state over approximately 6 weeks following delivery.

After childbirth, it is normal to expect sharp, contraction-like ‘after-pains’ as the uterus shrinks to its normal size, sore muscles, discomfort or numbness in the vaginal area, as well as temporary difficulty with urination and bowel movements. As the body goes through the recovery process after birth and returns to normal, all these discomforts will resolve.

Once the challenges of labor and childbirth are over and you are holding your dear new baby in your arms at last, it is time for the third and last stage of labor - the delivery of the placenta. This is the last hurdle you need to cross before you are home free!
While you will probably feel excited to see your baby for the first time, there is still work to be done to complete the process of childbirth.

A Canadian study of almost 5,000 mothers found that those who used selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) as antidepressants were more likely to give birth to stillborn, premature, and low birth weight babies. SSRIs, which include Prozac, work by increasing levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin.

Women who get little vitamin C both before and during their pregnancies have an increased risk of suffering a ruptured membrane and subsequently delivering prematurely. Vitamin C plays a role in the structure of collagen in the fetal membrane, and when it's not there, it makes the membrane weaker.

One out of every eight babies is born prematurely in the United States, which translates to almost half a million "preemies" each year. While a full-term pregnancy is 40 weeks (delivery anywhere from 38 weeks to 42 weeks is considered safe), a premature birth occurs before 37 weeks of gestation

Every part of the human body has a function and a purpose. Millions of years of evolution have fashioned the human body into a model of refinement, efficiency, and elegance

Since 1990, the number of women giving birth with a midwife has doubled, signaling a growing trend among women who seek a more natural -- as opposed to medical -- childbirth.

A government report released this week shows that the number of babies born by cesarean section was up in 1999 for the third year in a row. In addition, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) released a set of recommendations on Thursday aimed at helping doctors and hospitals to review and, where appropriate, reduce their rate of cesarean deliveries.

(NewsTarget) A study published in this month's Birth: Issues in Prenatal Care has concluded that the mortality rate of babies delivered by voluntary, medically unmotivated Caesarean section is still significantly higher than babies delivered through traditional methods.

Cesarean section was once a rare surgical procedure used exclusively in high-risk obstetric emergencies. It often delivered medically fragile babies who struggled to survive the complications of their births—and a higher neonatal mortality rate among c-section babies made a certain kind of sense. Today, however, c-section is no longer reserved for emergencies—in fact, its use is commonplace in healthy, low risk pregnancies and deliveries.