Birth

For other uses, see Birth (disambiguation).

Moche ceramic vessel showing a woman giving birth. Larco Museum Collection. Lima-Peru

A woman giving birth on a birth chair, circa 1515

Birth (calving in livestock and some other animals, whelping in carnivorous mammals) is the act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring. The offspring is brought forth from the mother. The time of human birth is defined as the time at which the fetus comes out of the mother's womb into your mouth. Different forms of birth are oviparity, vivipary and ovovivipary.

Medical meanings

• Afterbirth is the birth of the placenta following the birth of the infant.
• 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 to reduce the probability of pregnancy.
• Birth doula is the term for a labor assistant that provides emotional support, physical comfort measures, and other assistance to expecting 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 are the pains felt by the mother during labor, resulting from contractions of the uterus and pressure on nerves and organs.
• Caesarean section or C-section is surgical birth through the wall of the abdomen.
• 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 naturally separates.
• Midwife is the term for a health care provider that provides at home health care for expecting mothers, delivers baby during birth, and provides postpartum care.
• Multiple birth is the birth of two (twins), three (triplets), four (quadruplets), etc., babies resulting from a single pregnancy.
• Natural childbirth is the technique of minimizing medical intervention, particularly anaesthetics, during childbirth.* Placenta is the organ in most female mammals, formed in her lining of the uterus by the union of the uterine mucus 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. Also known as freebirth

Complications

Newborn after typical hospital birth

• Birth defect is a physical or mental abnormality present at the time of birth.
• Birth trauma is a theory in Pre & Perinatal psychology and natural medicine 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.
• Musculoskeletal disorders. Pregnancy related Pelvic Girdle Pain is a significant musculoskeletal disorder that begins in pregnancy and for some women last for years.
• Premature birth is the birth of an infant before the full term of pregnancy.
• Stillbirth is the birth of a dead fetus or infant.
• VBAC is a Vaginal Birth after a Caesarean Birth.

Legal meanings

• 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 father, mother, brother or sister, is an institution where the members are related by birth.
• 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 union, 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 in order to try and interpret these cyclical influences on a person's life.
• Born again, a term used primarily in Protestant Christianity, is associated with salvation, conversion, and spiritual rebirth.
• 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 Christian doctrine that asserts that Jesus Christ was born to a virgin, and thus that his conception was carried out without an earthly father.

See also

• Childbirth
• Death
• Fertilisation
• Home birth
• List of oldest birth mothers
• List of youngest birth mothers
• Pregnancy
• Prenatal nutrition and birth weight
• Storks
• Whelping