Learn About the Stages of Birth

An interesting fact to remember is that the umbilical cord can be between 50 - 70 cm long! Babies that move around a lot in the womb tend to have longer cords!

The gestation period (or pregnancy) for humans is nine months (40 weeks). It is the time from fertilisation until birth.

When the baby is ready to be born it drops lower down in the pelvis. The uterus begins to contract and this is the start of labour.

 Contractions start gently but become more powerful. This process can be very painful for the woman - sometimes pain relief is given to ease this.

The muscles of the cervix (neck of the womb) relax and make it wider (dilate). The amnion (or amniotic sac) breaks and amniotic fluid runs out of the vagina (the saying goes, that her "waters have broken").

Once the cervix is around 10 cm wide, the woman gets uncontrollable urges to push, and contractions in the uterus wall start pushing the baby through the cervix and out through the vagina, usually with the head first.

Once the baby is out, the umbilical cord is tied and cut; the scar becomes the navel (belly button). Within half an hour from birth, the placenta breaks away from the uterus and passes out of the vagina. This is called the afterbirth and marks the end of labour. The process of birth is now complete.

In this activity, we will learn about the process of birth.

Are you ready to begin?