Watch Birth Day

Learn what doctors do to ensure healthy babies in multiple births. Explore the fundamental issues that affect these births. Journey to a hospital where doctors have one of the highest rates of healthy outcomes for multiple births.

Find out what goes on in 'community' hospitals. Explore the differences between small community hospitals and larger busier hospitals and learn what every mother should know when deciding on a community hospital.

As a young mother awaits the delivery of twins a routine exam reveals that one of the twins has died in utero. Experience the mixed emotions of these parents. Watch as doctors work to deliver the healthy twin and not compromise the mother's health.

Watch a second time Mom, who is also a nurse, try to avoid all use of pain medication during labor and delivery. She chose an unconventional but familiar method: hypnosis. Meet the doula/nurse who is her hypnotherapist and learn how it works.

Learn about the different kinds of pain management available to pregnant women including the difference between a standard epidural and a walking epidural. Meet a Nurse who usually delivers pain medications, as she receives them.

Visit a private birthing center in Philadelphia. Meet a patient and her support team and learn why some women chose to give birth outside a hospital setting.

Learn why the placenta is the organ that makes the miracle of birth possible. Watch as doctors and nurses explain what the placenta is, how it develops and its important role in providing everything from oxygen to blood to a developing baby.

There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to predicting how long childbirth can take. Follow one mother as she experiences a slow, uncomplicated birth, and learn that doctors characterize her labor as a textbook case of childbirth.

Learn how healthy living and consistent prenatal care can help mothers-to-be avoid complications during pregnancy and childbirth.

A high Rh factor, indicating high acid levels in the bloodstream and amniotic fluid, can create pregnancy complications. Meet two moms with this condition, one able to deliver healthy twins and the other in need of emergency care to save her baby.

Two extremely sick babies arrive at the neonatal intensive care unit with different conditions, but both receive everything medicine and technology have to offer to ensure their healthy recovery .

The mother has ultimate control over her child's birth, as proven when one mom opts for a planned c-section to avoid the emergency c-section she experienced with her first birth. Discover why she has chosen tubal ligation to prevent future pregnancies.

From transportation to neonatal care, hospitals provide myriad services to ensure the delivery of healthy babies. But a healthy outcome is never a guarantee. Follow one mother through the ups and downs of labor and delivery.

Follow the progress of a woman who, after losing several pregnancies to colitis, realizes her dream of having a baby. A new operation and a c-section delivery now allow women wanting children to overcome the effects of this chronic bowel condition.

Many pregnant women have their labor induced for a variety of reasons. Meet a doctor who is conducting a study to explore how inducing labor can cut health risks to both mother and baby.

As more older women decide to have children it becomes easy to forget that not too long ago young mothers were the norm. Meet two teenage women who give birth and challenge preconceptions about teen moms.

Serious complications from diabetes led to a stillborn birth for this woman's first pregnancy. Now, with good prenatal care, she is able to deliver a healthy baby despite her diabetic condition.

Even as it has become a societal norm for women to have fewer babies than in previous generations, there are still exceptions. Examine the positive and negative medical ramifications of multiple births.

The very substance that protects and nourishes a growing fetus can harm the baby in abnormally high quantities. Learn the medical risks posed when a mother-to-be carries too much amniotic fluid.

Nine months carrying a baby is taxing for even the healthiest of women. Meet a woman who has decided to give birth after a serious car accident has caused permanent damage to her spine.

Accompany an expectant mother through an emotional pregnancy made all the more tumultuous by the discovery of pre-cancerous cells in her cervix after conception. Personal will and attentive doctoring combine as she attempts to deliver a healthy baby.

Women often prefer vaginal delivery over c-section because they believe a vaginal birth to be a better option for mother and child. Challenge this commonly-held belief with medical evidence that calls women's birthing beliefs into question.

Endure the joys and pains of labor and delivery with one woman who elects to take advantage of all the help medicine has to offer for a quick and painless birth and with another woman who chooses to let nature take its own course.

Many women encounter viral or bacterial infections while they are pregnant. How to treat them and what it may mean for the health of the baby are two of the topics discussed.

Explore the role of nurse midwives and how they interact with staff doctors if a problem occurs during delivery. Discover what can go wrong and how even the most serious complications can be handled by a doctor on standby.

At the Denver airport while enroute to her home in Tennesse, a pregnant woman starts bleeding uncontrollably. Her condition, known as placenta abruption, causes uncontrolled bleeding and can have serious consequences for the health of the mother and baby.

Meet a woman who, despite many attempts, could not carry and deliver a healthy full-term baby, until a medical procedure was performed to strengthen her cervix. Find out what lengths some women will go to carry and deliver their own baby.

Pre-term labor is a common condition that many women experience in the final stages of pregnancy. Find out what it is, how different women cope with it, and what it means for the birth of a baby.

A look at the labor and delivery floor of the University of Pennsylvania Hospital. While it may seem chaotic and out of control to an outside viewer, the unique medical needs of women giving birth is simply part of the job for the medical pros on staff.

A high percentage of healthy people carry the Strep B virus without ever developing an illness. In pregnancy, this virus can have serious consequences for both mother and baby, and prenatal testing and monitoring is necessary for a healthy birth.

Doctors never know whether certain types of genetic heart ailments will pass along to a baby until after the delivery. Watch as a woman delivers her second child not knowing if, like her first baby, she will pass her heart condition along to the newborn.

Hemophilia, a hereditary condition preventing a person's blood from clotting quickly enough, can have serious repercussions for pregnant women. Watch as one woman with the condition undergoes a C-section and delivers a healthy baby with few complications.

The risks of pre-mature delivery are well known but what are the risks of overdue babies? Not only can a long pregnancy be a physical challenge for a woman but it can also have negative health affects on the baby.

Like many issues surrounding birth, there's a lot of misunderstanding and myth about morning sickness. For some women the condition is defined best by its name; affecting them only in the A.M. Meet a woman whose condition lasted her whole pregnancy.

Meet a woman who not only had multiple prior miscarriages, but who is also dealing with the death of the baby's father in a tragic car accident. Watch the successful delivery of a healthy baby by a woman with a poor medical history of carrying full term.

In the weight-obsessed culture of America, how many women consider its impact on labor and delivery? Meet two Moms, one obese the other underweight, and consider what, if any, affect their weight will have on labor and the delivery of a healthy baby.

Diabetics can and do have healthy babies. Meet two women about to give birth who have two different types of diabetes. Find out about each type of diabetes; how it affects the Mom and the chances of it affecting the health of the baby.

An amazing story on how a woman's attitude can impact birth. Despite the complications of breech twins this Mom is determined to deliver her babies vaginally and not opt for a C-section. Her positive attitude helps her and her doctors fulfill her wishes.

A woman delivers a healthy baby after a full-term pregnancy despite having a kidney ailment. Topics discussed include how a mother's health can affect labor and delivery and the importance of good pre-natal care.

It's been ten years since the birth of Cynthia and Miguel Ruiz's first child together. Their blended family also includes one child each by previous partners, and with Cynthia at 37 weeks, soon they will add a baby girl to the group.

Dottie Hill and husband Rick hope to add one more child to their family. Dottie gives birth to a baby boy although doctors have some concerns upon examining baby Stuart. The family must summon all their faith when they learn the baby has Down Syndrome.

Meggan and Rob find out their first baby will be born with hydrocephalus, commonly known as water on the brain. After the baby is born, a shunt is inserted into her brain and three weeks later, she is well enough to be released from the hospital.

Over the last decade the rate of c-section births has risen dramatically. Examine two c-section births and learn about how c-sections are performed as well as the risks involved.

More and more women want the shortest possible labor with the least amount of pain. The most popular pain relief is the epidural. Discover how epidurals work, how they are administered and how they impact a woman's labor experience.

Two first-time mothers with past pregnancy problems struggle with complications associated with being over the age of 40. In the end, healthy babies are born to each mother and they are relieved and grateful for their little miracles.

Two first-time mothers from different backgrounds and geographical locations are diagnosed with preeclampsia, a condition of elevated blood pressure associated with pregnancy. Although they share this condition, they have two very different experiences.

Newborn baby Ryder has a rare heart lesion and must have an operation. The operation fails to restore blood flow to the lungs, so the newborn must be rushed into follow-up surgery. The tiny baby boy proves to be a fighter and his health is improving.

Two women in pre-term labor are flown in for specialized care at University of New Mexico Hospital. Carrying twins, Ivonne is given magnesium sulfate to stop labor. Kathy's water has broken, so she must deliver her two-pound daughter via c-section.

Visit Pennsylvania Hospital, the first in the nation, for a historical review of labor and delivery. Compare a first-time mom's modern-day delivery with those in centuries past, including the evolution of the epidural and the father's role in delivery.

Third babies prove to be the trickiest deliveries for these two moms. When Karla's water breaks, her fluid is stained greenish-brown with meconium. Due to a uterine prolapse during a previous delivery, Mende must deliver number three via c-section.

Pulmonary hypertension has doctors monitoring Denise's labor very closely. The pain stresses her heart, but an epidural is incompatible with her heart medication. Delivery progresses smoothly, but her newborn must go to the NICU with mild pneumonia.

An expecting mom deals with stress after her husband is in a serious car accident. Stress has been linked to low birth weight and birth defects. Another mom worries about her ability to carry her baby to term. Both moms deliver healthy babies.

A mom has a high fever and painful contractions. She has a serious infection of the placenta and amniotic fluid known as chorioamnionitis. She needs an emergency c-section to save her baby. A Spanish-speaking mother is helped through premature labor.

Six weeks pregnant, Morshica's abdomen grew to the size of a full term pregnancy in a matter of days. Doctors perform surgery to remove a huge fibroid growing on the outside of her uterus. She makes it to term. See the complicated surgical delivery.

Complications arise when a C-section, already considered major surgery, must be performed on a Chinese woman with no medical records. Doctors must take extra precautions to insure a healthy outcome for both mother and child.

Doctors and other medical staff are urging fathers to take a more active role in the whole birth experience. Learn about research that shows that fathers can have a calming impact on the mother and baby.

Get a behind-the-scenes look at a birthing center with a family who chose to deliver in this unique environment. Learn how birthing moved from home to hospital as medical advances ensured safer births, and see what may have been lost in that transition.

Once a woman gives birth by C-section, her chances of ever delivering a baby vaginally decrease. But just how much of a decrease, and why? Learn about the issues involved in determining whether a woman can give birth vaginally after having a C-section.

A mother has her second set of twins, back to back. Although rare in the US, this woman's family has at least one ancestor with the same occurrence. Find out how genetics plays into the chances of having twins.

Learn about pre-term labor and see a patient expecting twins who need as much time as possible to develop properly inside the mother. Learn how doctors use various drugs to slow down the labor and speed up the baby's development.

In hospitals across the US, doulas and midwives enjoy an increase in demand for their services from mothers during labor and delivery.

Find out why incidents of multiple births, especially among older woman, continue to rise in the US. Learn the complications associated with delivering twins, and meet two expectant moms, both delivering twins.

Learn how women make decisions on treatment to control pain during labor and delivery. From breathing techniques and visualization to a body-numbing epidural, follow four women who use four different ways to control birth pain.

Explore two of the most-advanced neonatal intensive care units in the US and follow the stories of three babies who make temporary stops in these units before setting off to join their families at home.

Fathers go through a range of emotions during labor and delivery. From the squeamish dad to the totally supportive partner, he's there with the mom from beginning to end.

Visit one hospital to explore how the birthing process has changed dramatically in the last 20 years. A diary of recollections written by mothers who have come through this bustling labor and delivery unit reflects changing times and techniques.

A genetic condition called lung white out affects a very small percentage of babies. Explore the problems and outcomes associated with this condition.

Birthing is an individual experience at St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital. Mothers-to-be choose from a birthing center staffed with nurses and midwives and a more technological approach with the full medical intervention of induction and pain-relief drugs.

If mothers-to-be are healthy during pregnancy they are more likely to have healthy babies. Doctors reveal the proof that when women stay healthy while they're pregnant, they can give the best gift possible to their anticipated newborn baby.

More women are opting for "medically unassisted" childbirth done inside the confines of a medical facility. Certified nurse midwives play an important role in this kind of birth, combining old, natural methods with modern technology.

Sickle cell anemia is a life-long chronic and painful medical condition affecting a large percentage of the African-American community in the United States. Doctors at Emory University in Atlanta discuss its effect on pregnant women.

It may surprise many women, but doctors consider any pregnancy after age 35 to be at higher risk for some complications, but these two women -- one a cancer survivor -- in the medical category known as "advanced maternal age" deliver healthy babies.

For some women, a condition known as "short cervix" means they can never carry a baby full term, but a procedure known as a "cervical cerclage" can make a difference for many expecting mothers.