Women give birth baby
Woman giving birth: Live birth video
Narrator: Samiyyah is the owner of a day spa in Philadelphia. She is 38 weeks pregnant with her second child.
Samiyyah: With the first pregnancy, I delivered in a hospital, and it was very restricting, you know, being confined to the bed, not being able to, you know, move when I felt my body wanted me to do certain things.
Narrator: For her son Safi's birth, she was given pitocin to speed up labor, an epidural for pain management, and an episiotomy (a surgical cut to widen the vaginal opening).
This time, she's planning a natural delivery -- without pain medication and other medical interventions -- at a birth center.
Samiyyah: Yes, I've been told that I am completely crazy for being, you know, for not having the drugs, but I've been there and I didn't like it, so I figured I would try this. It's healthier for the baby; it's healthier for me. So why not? I mean, women, we were designed to do this.
Narrator: Seven days after her due date, Samiyyah's labor kicks into gear. At the birth center in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, Julia Rasch, a licensed nurse/midwife, performs an internal exam and starts an IV line to give Samiyyah a dose of antibiotics, since she's positive for Group B strep.
Samiyyah is 3 centimeters dilated, 100 percent effaced, and her water hasn't broken yet, which is common in the first stage of labor.
Birth centers offer a more relaxed and intimate alternative to hospitals for women expecting uncomplicated births.
It's important to choose a birth center with nearby hospital privileges in case of an emergency.
Helping her through her first natural birth is her husband, Arvan. Her mother-in-law, Irena, and 6-year-old son Safi are there for support.
Samiyyah: We've talked about, you know, what he's gonna see, we've shown him pictures, and I think he'll be okay.
Narrator: As Samiyyah's labor progresses, her baby's heart rate is monitored every 15 minutes.
Samiyyah: My goal is to remain calm and try to stay level-headed.
Narrator: As her contractions pick up, she starts experiencing painful back labor, typically caused by the baby's head pressing against the lower spine.
Samiyyah finds some relief by trying a combination of slow steady breathing, constant deep massaging and counterpressure, spending lots of time in a heated Jacuzzi, and trying different labor positions.
Arvan: She's doing great. She's doing great. She's really pushing through.
Narrator: Her midwife feels it's time to break her water with an amni hook, since she can feel the amniotic sac bulging. This is a common procedure and usually helps speed up the labor process.
Samiyyah: I thought it would be painful, but it wasn't at all. Actually it was like a relief of pressure.
Midwife Julia Rasch: Large amount of clear fluid. Beautiful.
Narrator: Her contractions now intensify as she starts to feel the urge to push. This is called hard labor or transition. The muscles your body uses to contract are transitioning from dilating the cervix to pushing the baby down and out.
Midwife: The intensity of the contractions is increasing, and just a certain force is now really behind that baby coming.
Narrator: Transition can be the most painful part of labor -- but usually the shortest phase.
Narrator: Though most mothers dilate nearly 8 to 10 centimeters before transitioning, Samiyyah is only 5 centimeters dilated and is having trouble resisting the urge to push.
Arvan: Sam, do not push. Fight it. Fight it.
Samiyyah: I'm trying!
Narrator: Her midwife agrees her body is ready to deliver. Pushing before being fully dilated is uncommon. This is why each caregiver has to manage her patient's labor on an individual basis.
Midwife: Okay now, take a breath and do it again.
Narrator: Her midwife uses her fingers to pull back her cervical opening as Samiyyah pushes.
The midwife made the right decision, listening to her body. With just 11 minutes of pushing, Arvan and Samiyyah's baby emerges.
Samiyyah: [screams]
Arvan: Good job! Good job!
Midwife: There's your baby!
Narrator: Sami Sarrajj, a healthy boy, is placed immediately on his mother's chest.
Midwife: You did it! You did it!
Narrator: Dad cuts the umbilical cord, and the midwife collects some of the cord blood for routine testing.
It's not over yet. The midwife helps deliver the placenta, and a nurse presses on the fundus -- the upper part of the uterus -- to check how much the uterus has contracted.
Applying pressure is a common practice used by caregivers to help expel excess blood.
Samiyyah tore along her previous episiotomy line, and her midwife repairs it with stitches, which takes 15 minutes to complete.
Arvan: You did a hell of a job... Yeah!
Narrator: Samiyyah is now breastfeeding and bonding with her baby. Incredibly, in an hour, she is showered up and savoring some well-deserved fettucini Alfredo.
It was a fast delivery, with just four hours and 11 minutes of labor. Samiyyah's natural birth is a success, and she's ready to try it again.
Samiyyah: One more. We're going to try for a girl. (laughs)
Narrator: Everyone played a supportive part on the birth team… Even big brother Safi got to announce the news that his brother was born.
Live birth: Water birth | Video
Narrator: We women love our tub time, and Mary is no exception. As a labor and delivery nurse, she's seen the best and worst of birth. For her, warm water is the ultimate pain reliever during labor.
Mary: I want to use the water to help me cope naturally with the contractions or the surges and to help me deliver the baby in a more calm environment.
Mary and Dean tried water birth for the first time with their daughter Aubrey's delivery. The experience was so positive they're headed to the tub again for the birth of their fourth child.
Mary: I will have two by land and hopefully two by sea.
Midwife Karen Shields: Baby's head is right here. Perfect position for labor, which is great.
Mary: Good girl!
Midwife: A water birth is my favorite way to catch a baby.
Narrator: Karen Shields, Mary's midwife, has delivered over 200 babies in the water.
Midwife: Everything has to be going terrifically for the baby to be born in water, as you know.
The baby's heartbeat has to be what we call reactive, which means that the baby's, when the baby moves, the heart rate goes up. And there's no areas where the baby's heart rate is going down and that your blood pressure's normal and everything's good.
Narrator: You should not attempt a water delivery if you have high-risk prenatal issues such as diabetes, high blood pressure, or preeclampsia; you plan to use any pain medication; or your labor will be induced.
While laboring in a warm tub has become more acceptable as a way to cope with pain during labor, actual underwater birth is still unconventional and considered risky. It's not recommended by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
If you're considering a water birth, talk to your caregiver about the risks and benefits.
It's important to decide in advance what tub you'll be delivering in. You can use your bathtub if it's big enough, but most women either buy or rent a special birthing tub.
Ask your midwife what she recommends.
Mary will be using a tub at the New Jersey Hospital System -- Elmer that's specifically designed for water birth. This tub keeps the water warm and has three access points for getting in and out in case of an emergency.
After a long wait, Mary's labor kicks in ten days after her due date. It's 9:30 p.m., and her water hasn't yet broken.
Midwife: You're about 80 percent thinned out.
Mary: Yes, we got our 80, girls.
Narrator: Mary is using HypnoBirthing techniques, dim lights, and soothing music to stay relaxed and get through her labor. After four and a half hours, Mary has progressed to 7 centimeters. The birthing tub is prepped.
The midwife breaks her water with an amni hook. This is done before entering the tub to make sure the amniotic fluid is clear and free of meconium.
The safe and comfortable water temperature for mother and baby is between 98 and 101 degrees.
While Mary's in the tub, she moves into the transition stage of labor.
This is the most intense part of labor, but the water seems to be helping.
Midwife: It helps her mobility. It helps prevent tearing. It helps the mother's blood pressure be lower. And just really gives her an overall feeling of comfort and relaxation.
Narrator: The baby's heart rate is monitored underwater. It's hard to believe Mary is just minutes away from giving birth.
The mood is calm and peaceful, and Mary gently rocks her hips as she focuses on her baby descending into the birth canal.
Mary gets in position to deliver. Two nurses hold her legs back as the baby's head begins to crown.
Midwife: OK, I want a big push this time.
Narrator: With the next push, the baby's head is visible.
The midwife quickly lifts the umbilical cord, which has wrapped around the baby's neck during delivery and makes her appear bluish.
While she's underwater, the baby is receiving all her oxygen through the umbilical cord.
The midwife holds the baby's head for the final push.
Midwife: Here we go…
Narrator: Mary and Dean's baby daughter Ashlind is born.
In seconds, she's brought to the surface.
Midwife: Hi, beautiful. Let's float her a little.
I think the reason I like water birth so much is the baby's reaction. They come out so calm and relaxed. Their whole body just unwinds, and you can see the stress just leave them.
Narrator: Parents often wonder why a baby born underwater doesn't swallow the water or, even worse, drown. [Midwife] Karen Shields believes babies have an innate ability to avoid this.
Midwife: There's what's called the natural dive reflex in babies, and that is so they don't take a breath underwater.
The stimulus for a baby to breathe is atmosphere or air on the cheek. That is what makes the baby take that initial breath.
Narrator: The umbilical cord reacts to the air as well.
Midwife: Until the cord comes up and is actually hit by the air, that's when the cord constricts and the blood flow is stopped to the baby.
Narrator: In two minutes, Ashlind, covered in vernix, is breathing on her own, and Dad cuts her cord.
Mary gave birth to a healthy 8 pound, 15 ounce baby.
The water birth was everything she hoped it would be.
At what age do Russian women give birth?
Rosstat takes into account not only fertility statistics, but also related data: for example, at what age do Russian women give birth. Such information has been collected annually since the early sixties. We looked at how the situation has changed over the past decades and how different regions of the country differ from each other in this respect. nine0003
When are the first and subsequent children born more often
In total, 1,436,514 children were born in Russia then. Three were born to mothers under the age of 13, 363 were born from women over 50. The birth rate among minors is declining, and among older Russian women it is growing, but such situations are still rare. Interestingly, scientists are not interested in the age of the fathers: it is more difficult to establish reliably, plus it is not so important for the demographics of the country.
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The average age of a woman at birth was 28 years and 7 months. It is important that this is the average age of all mothers, without division into those who gave birth for the first time, for the second, third or subsequent times: the media is sometimes confused about these indicators. In two out of three cases, newborn Russians already had an older brother or sister by mother.
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How much does it cost to give birth in Moscow
First-born Russians most often give birth at the age of 24-25 years. The mean age was 25.9of the year. This is later than in the ideal scenario of the Russians: according to opinion polls, the Russians consider the optimal age for the birth of the first child to be 25 years old. But men believe that it is better to have a first child when the partner is 19-24 years old, and women say that the optimal age for this is 25-29 years.
Birth rates by mother's age and birth order, Center for Demographic Research
The second child is born at an average of 32 years, the third - at 34.
This does not mean that the average mother gives birth to two children in three years: women who decide to have a third child give birth to their first child 2.6 years earlier. nine0003
What influences the age at which children were born
In the distant past, the age at which the first child was born was determined almost entirely by the age of marriage: in traditional societies, sex was approved only after the formalization of the relationship. Now the “wedding night” rarely becomes the first really: 67% of Russians consider sex before marriage to be normal.
Among citizens of "marriage" age - from 18 to 34 years - there are even more of them: 84%. Perhaps that is why the average age of marriage has increased since the mid-nineties of the last century: from 19up to 25 years - in women, from 23 to 27 - in men.
And many Russians have a child without formalizing the relationship at the registry office: in 2020, 21.6% of Russian babies were born to unmarried women.
But half of these children were registered "on a joint application of the father and mother", that is, the parents, most likely, maintained a relationship.
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Rights in civil marriage
In today's society, the age of marriage still has a strong influence on the time of the birth of the first child. However, with the spread of contraceptives, the desires and plans of women themselves became more important. One of the main factors today is how many children a woman wants to have in principle. If she plans to be a mother of many children, she starts giving birth earlier. Therefore, in regions where traditionally large families and the highest birth rate - for example, in Chechnya and Tuva - the first children are born early, on average at 23.4 and 23.7 years, respectively. nine0003
They also give birth early in Dagestan: at 23.5 years. In terms of the birth rate, this region is only in eighth place in Russia, and demographers explain the early age of birth here by cultural norms.
But traditions and the spread of having many children in the environment where a person lives are very important: according to Rosstat polls, the more brothers and sisters a woman has, the more children she wants to have herself.
The youngest people give birth in St. Petersburg, Moscow and Sevastopol: the average age of birth of the first child here is 28.1, 27.8 and 26.9years respectively. In these regions, other traditions play a particularly important role.
According to demographers, in the cities young women devote most of their time to work - voluntarily or forcedly. To find a good job, they must be educated. Women with higher education marry later and, accordingly, have children later. They also have more time between marriage and the birth of a child: 17.2 months versus 8.8 for women with a secondary education.
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How much do you earn compared to colleagues of the opposite sex
How did the average age of birth in 60 years
From 1960 to 1994 in the USSR and Russia, as well as in other countries of the Soviet bloc, the average age of birth of the first child was constantly decreasing, mothers were getting younger.
At the same time, there was a different trend in the West.
Russian economists explain this by economic factors: under the socialist system, families with children received free apartments faster than those without children, and women who did not belong to the nomenklatura saw no reason to put off having children for the sake of education or work, because they often had no career prospects. nine0003
Since 1994, when mothers were at a record young age of 22.53 years at the birth of their first child, the average birth age in Russia has begun to increase. The level of 1960 was surpassed in 2008.
The age of the mother at the birth of the first child, a study by the sociological center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow State University and the Research Institute of Health Organization and Medical Management
This is a global trend that scientists call the demographic transition. To put it in simple terms, with an increase in life expectancy and its quality, young women prefer not to give birth, but to study, have fun and earn money.
Including in order to provide better conditions for their future children. They also have affordable contraceptives and, in principle, do not plan to have more than two children. nine0003
In most developed countries, the average age of a primiparous woman today is approaching 30 years. They give birth later in Spain and Switzerland: at 31.2 and 31.1 years, respectively. Russia is still far from this mark, especially since, according to preliminary data from domestic demographers, the average age of mothers in Russia has not been growing in recent years.
Source: Human Fertility Database Source: Human Fertility DatabaseWhat doctors say about the optimal age for having a first child
Olga Kashubina
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from 19 to 30 years old.
During this period, the eggs, as a rule, have a minimum number of genetic defects, and the expectant mother herself is more likely not to have acquired serious chronic diseases that may interfere with the successful conception and bearing of a child.
This is also evidenced by the statistics of reproductologists: after 35 years, the chance to give birth to a child without assistive technologies is halved compared to 25-year-olds. nine0003
At the same time, a lot of other factors are superimposed on abstract recommendations about the optimal age of motherhood: many women under 30 are not ready for pregnancy for various reasons - and this is normal. The structure of modern society here comes into conflict with biology: an attempt to meet the "biological" recommendations for reproduction can mean an early unsuccessful marriage, an abandoned education, a failed career, financial problems and, as a result, severe stress from parenthood. nine0003
Again, the health status of some women may improve with age due to a more conscious attitude to nutrition, the rejection of bad habits and, conversely, the inclusion of physical education in the weekly routine.
At the same time, modern reproductive technologies are developing year by year - they are becoming safer, more efficient, more affordable, including through government funding.
Therefore, I would advise readers whose reproductive plan is at odds with the recommendations of conservative doctors, not to be nervous because of the notorious “ticking clock”. It may be useful for you at this stage to undergo a full gynecological examination and discuss with the doctor the possibility of preserving oocytes - this will allow you to save good quality eggs for the future, for the moment when pregnancy becomes truly desirable. nine0003
Experts explained why Russian women are in no hurry to give birth
The average age of the birth of the first child in Russia is rapidly shifting - now it is already 28 years old. This is due, among other things, to the fact that women are focused on a career, the Ministry of Labor reported. Experts interviewed by Gazeta.Ru also point to other reasons: pressure from society has decreased, people want to live for themselves and prolong their youth due to the late birth of their first child.
The increase in the age at which girls give birth to their first child is associated with a general trend towards careerism and a desire to increase income levels. Family and procreation have receded into the background, Vladimir Dashevsky, a candidate of psychological sciences, family psychotherapist, told Gazeta.Ru. nine0003
“It used to be customary to give birth to many children, because they were needed to help in the family household. These social considerations formed stereotypes in society, pushing to give birth earlier. Now there is no such need, since people do not need to survive, with an increase in living standards, stereotypes have also changed,” he said.
Modern women live more consciously, it is important for them to get an education and develop a career in order to be financially ready for the birth of a child.
“This significant increase in age is partly due to the desire of people to receive higher education and additional skills, as well as the desire for financial stability and securing a job before leaving on maternity leave,” a demographer, professor at the Department of Family Sociology and Demography at the Faculty of Sociology told Gazeta.
Ru Moscow State University Alexander Sinelnikov.
But there is also an opposite trend - many women, looking at the "cult of children", fear that they are not ready to bear maternal responsibility and postpone the decision, Dashevsky noted. nine0003
“Women ask themselves if they will be good mothers, they look for a maternal instinct in themselves that does not really exist. And the child-centricity of other people increases the fear of those who have not yet decided on the birth of a child. Therefore, women are starting to create financial insurance, trying to prepare for this, ”the expert clarified.
The second factor is the development of medicine and reproductive technologies, continued Dashevsky.
“Now the so-called “ticking clock” has eased, as women can have IVF or adopt a child – this has become the norm in society, and women feel freer. Thanks to medicine, they can do it later, and at 40 they can be considered a young mother, thus prolonging their youth,” he said.
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The third factor is the desire of young couples to prolong a comfortable relationship.
“A child greatly changes the life of parents in everyday, financial terms, not everyone is ready for this and strives to live for each other as long as possible. The childfree movement also played a role: some couples immediately agree that they do not want to have children. And this also pushes back the general demographic bar,” the expert explained.
Sinelnikov, in turn, emphasized that tolerance for childlessness also affected the postponement of pregnancy. nine0003
“Couples have gotten used to living without children, thinking that childfree – “free from children” – sounds proud, not insulting, like “childless,” he explained.
At the same time, the higher the standard of living, the safer people feel and the more conscious approach to having a child, often postponing this decision. The psychologist noted that this trend can be changed by creating comfortable medical conditions, raising living standards and social security.
