Medical Procedures

Inducing labour means using medication or other methods to start it. Induction has risks. Those risks include a higher chance of distress for your baby and possibly needing a caesarean birth (or ‘c-section’). Because of these risks, your doctor should only induce labour when necessary. They can use different methods, such as giving medicine or breaking the amniotic sac.

Reasons your health-care provider might induce labor:

• If your pregnancy goes 1 to 2 weeks past your due date.
• When continuing the pregnancy might put your health or your baby’s health at risk.
• If your water breaks but contractions don’t start within a reasonable time.

For more information, watch this video. Note: This video is for educational purposes only. Some policies, procedures, and equipment may differ from those used at the facility where you give birth.

Fetal Monitoring

Electronic fetal monitoring is a procedure where medical staff use instruments to listen to your baby’s heart rate and track contractions.

What fetal monitoring shows:

• Your baby’s heart rate and how it changes over time.
• How often and how long your contractions last.

Most of the time, staff use external monitors on the outside of your body. They use internal monitors when they need to closely track your contractions or your baby’s well-being. Internal monitoring is more invasive. It also limits your movement compared to external monitoring.

IV Fluids
You can get IV (intravenous) fluids through a catheter placed in a vein in your hand or forearm. Check with your health-care provider about your hospital’s guidelines for using IVs.

Reasons your doctor might recommend an IV:

• To help maintain your blood pressure if anesthesia is used.
• To give medications if needed.
• To prevent or treat dehydration (drinking water, juice, or sucking on ice chips can also help).
• To receive blood if needed.

Moving around can make you more comfortable and help labour progress. For this reason, many facilities offer devices that let you move more freely while you have an IV.

Certain interventions might help your baby move through the birth canal during the second stage of labor (pushing and birth). You might need these if you cannot push effectively due to anesthesia, exhaustion, or your baby’s position or size, or if your baby needs to be born quickly due to a sudden change in their heart rate.

Second Stage Interventions Include:

• Episiotomy: Surgeons make a surgical cut to enlarge the vaginal opening as the baby’s head crowns, just before birth.
• Vacuum Extractor and Forceps: Practitioners may use these tools on the baby’s head just before birth to guide the baby through the birth canal. They will pull gently while you push. Using these tools might help avoid a caesarean delivery or an emergency but discuss the risks with your health-care provider, such as marks and bruising on the baby’s head, or tearing of the perineum, vagina, or anus.