Childbirth Resources
This is the time when everyone around you has advice on childbirth. While Aunt Hilda, Cousin Tilly and the neighbor next door all mean well, we want to offer medical facts. Here you'll find everything from how to choose where to have your baby to what to expect during labor and your baby's first moments. There's even information on what your recovery will be like physically and emotionally, and how long before you're back to your new normal - also known as parenthood.
What's your birth plan?
Along with all the excitement of having a baby are the many questions you may have about the big day. Will you go to the hospital, a birthing center or have a home birth? What do you need to pack? Time to put your birth plan into action!
Things to know about labor and delivery
- Have you packed the baby bag? | Cook Children's
- Have you packed the dad bag? | Cook Children's
- Have you packed the mom bag? | Cook Children's
- Hospital or birthing center? | Cook Children's
- Labor: are you ready for it? | Cook Children's
- Midwife or obstetrician? | Cook Children's
- Questions to ask your doctor about labor delivery | Cook Children's
- Ready for your hospital stay? | Cook Children's
- Cord blood banking | American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology
- Full-term pregnancy's new meaning explained video | American Academy of Pediatrics
- Preparing for birth | American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology
- Special considerations | American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology
- 3 stages of labor | National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
- Am I in labor? | Medline Plus
- Are you in labor? | Cook Children's
- Ask ACOG: is it normal to feel fake contractions? | American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology
- Can you manage your labor pain? | Cook Children's
- Can you prevent early labor? | Cook Children's
- Labor and birth | Office on Women's Health
- Labor and delivery | National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
- Labor induction | American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology
- Labor pain| American Society of Anesthesiologists
- Medications for pain relief during labor and delivery | American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology
- Special procedures for labor and delivery | American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology
- Ask ACOG: what does it mean to lose your mucus plug? | American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology
- Dads in the delivery room | Health 4 Mom
- Dealing with pain during childbirth | Cook Children's
- Delivery room procedures following a normal vaginal birth | American Academy of Pediatrics
- Delivery: what about the pain? | American Academy of Pediatrics
- Delivery: what about the pain? | American Academy of Pediatrics
- Epidurals | Cook Children's
- Episiotomy | Medline Plus
- Finally - delivery day! | American Academy of Pediatrics
- Keys to photographic success in the delivery room | American Academy of Pediatrics
- Labor and birth | Office on Women's Health
- Labor and delivery | National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
- Medications for pain relief during labor and delivery | American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology
- Preparing for delivery | American Academy of Pediatrics
- Special procedures for labor and delivery | American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology
- What is delayed cord clamping? | American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology
- What position is your baby in for delivery? | Medline Plus
- Cesarean birth | American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology
- Delivery by cesarean section | American Academy of Pediatrics
- If your baby is breech | American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology
- Preterm labor and birth | American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology
- When pregnancy goes past your due date | American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology
- Why are babies born early? | Cook Children's
- Childbirth and beyond | Office on Women's Health
- First sight of your newborn after a routine vaginal delivery | American Academy of Pediatrics
- Natural childbirth | Cook Children's
- Nursing positions | Cook Children's
- Pregnant or breastfeeding? Nutrients you need | Cook Children's
- Recovering from delivery | Cook Children's
- Should you bank your baby's cord blood? | Cook Children's
- What happens on your baby's first day? | Cook Children's
- What's the best way to recover from childbirth? | Cook Children's
- Why your newborn needs a vitamin k shot | American Academy of Pediatrics
- Your baby's first day | Cook Children's
- Your baby's first hours of life | Office on Women's Health
- Your newborn's first hour: getting to know each other | American Academy of Pediatrics
- Clubfoot| Cook Children's
- Congenital dislocated hip | Cook Children's
- Down syndrome | Cook Children's
- Fetal alcohol syndrome | Cook Children's
- Hemophilia | Cook Children's
- Hypoplastic left heart syndrome | Cook Children's
- If your baby has a birth defect | Cook Children's
- Orofacial cleft | Cook Children's
- Phenylketonuria (PKU) | Cook Children's
- Spina bifida | Cook Children's
- Tay-sachs disease | Cook Children's
- Tetralogy of fallot | Cook Children's
- Transposition of the great arteries | Cook Children's
Need help finding information?
Finding health information you can trust can be confusing and overwhelming. Let us help. A Cook Children's librarian can send you up to date information from reliable sources.
Additional resources and help