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Operational Obstetrics & Gynecology

Labor and Delivery

Watch a Video Showing a Normal Delivery or Cesarean Section

Labor	Contractions	Electronic Fetal Monitors
Latent Phase Labor	Fetal Heart Rate	Pain Relief
Active Phase Labor	Urine	Second Stage Labor
Progress of Labor	Estimated Fetal Weight	Preparing for Delivery
Delivery of the Baby	Dilatation and Effacement	Managing the Delivery
Delivery of the Placenta	Fetal Orientation	Episiotomy
Managing Labor and Delivery	Leopold's Maneuvers	Anesthesia
Initial Evaluation	Fetal Membranes	Clamp the Cord
History	Blood Count	The Placenta
Risk Factors	Early Labor	Uterine Massage
Vital Signs	Monitor the Fetal Heart	Post Partum Care

Labor

Labor consists of regular, frequent, uterine contractions which lead to progressive dilatation of the cervix.

The diagnosis of labor may not be obvious for several reasons:

Braxton-Hicks contractions are uterine contractions occurring prior to the onset of labor. They are normal and can be demonstrated with fetal monitoring techniques early in the middle trimester of pregnancy. These innocent contractions can be painful, regular, and frequent, although they usually are not.
While the uterine contractions of labor are usually painful, they are sometimes only mildly painful, particularly in the early stages of labor. Occasionally, they are painless.
Cervical dilatation alone does not confirm labor, since many women will demonstrate some dilatation (1-3 cm) for weeks or months prior to the onset of true labor.

Thus, in other than obvious circumstances, labor will usually be determined by observing the patient over time and demonstrating progressive cervical changes, in the presence of regular, frequent, painful uterine contractions.

The cause of labor is not known but may include both maternal and fetal factors.

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Operational Obstetrics & Gynecology - 2nd Edition
The Health Care of Women in Military Settings
CAPT Michael John Hughey, MC, USNR
NAVMEDPUB 6300-2C
January 1, 2000

This web version of Operational Obstetrics & Gynecology is provided by The Brookside Associates Medical Education Division. It contains original contents from the official US Navy NAVMEDPUB 6300-2C, but has been reformatted for web access and includes advertising and links that were not present in the original version. This web version has not been approved by the Department of the Navy or the Department of Defense. The presence of any advertising on these pages does not constitute an endorsement of that product or service by either the Department of Defense or the Brookside Associates. The Brookside Associates is a private organization, not affiliated with the United States Department of Defense. All material in this version is unclassified.

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