Labour and Birth

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The big day is fast-approaching and you need to get yourself ready, both in terms of your 'hospital' bag and in terms of your mind-set. The experience of labour and birth is highly individual, but even so it is a good idea to listen to any birth stories offered by new mothers at your antenatal classes. Soon, you will finally reap the rewards of your labour - you get to meet your precious newborn.

• Getting Ready For the Birth
• Your Baby Position
• Overdue Babies
• Hospital Birth
• Water Birth
• Home Birth
• Positions For Labour and Birth
• Stage 1 of Labour
• Stage 2 of Labour
• Stage 3 of Labour
• Unusual Labours
• Assisted Deliveries
• Caesarean Section
• Episiotomy and Tears
• First Few Moments For You and Your Baby
• Your Baby Appearance
• Premature Babies
• Special Care Baby Units

Cord Blood Banking

When preparing for the delivery of you baby, your mind is preoccupied with a wide range of concerns, the most important of which concern your child.s health. Every parent wants to bring a healthy child into this world, and cord blood banking provides you with the peace of mind to calm your nerves about the issue.

Umbilical cord blood contains stem cells, which can be used to treat a wide range of genetic and blood diseases. These include leukemia, lymphoma and over 70 other conditions. Researchers are also looking for ways to use cord blood to treat disease like diabetes and even brain injuries.

When you bank your child.s cord blood, you are banking these precious stem cells. So, should you child contract one of the many diseases treatable by cord blood, they will have a treatment option alternative to bone marrow transplants, which can be painful and invasive. Family members could also benefit from the banking of your child.s cord blood, if they ever fall ill, as well.

Additionally, cord blood stem cells differ from bone marrow stem cells as the extraction process is not harmful to the donor. The mother and the child are both safe from harm when cord blood is being collected.

Speak to you doctor to learn more about how banking your baby.s cord blood could help save a life.