I AM GOING TO HAVE A BABY ABROAD ...             

	LABOR
	EPIDURAL ANAESTHESIA  :
	Few labors are painless but if you are well prepared to it, you can diminish the pain. During your prenatal courses you will learn that contractions are necessary to make the baby goes down. And bear in mind that you have never been so closed to see your baby, that helps to accept these contractions. Moreover during the pre-labor and the labor itself breathe as you learnt during the breathing techniques courses.   Pain in labor is due to these contractions. You feel a contraction when your uterus contracts. During your pregnancy you did not probably have noticed them because they can be harmless. But when labor begins, you feel them. To avoid the sufferings due to them, you can ask for epidural anaesthesia.   At your 8th visit to your gynaecologist's, he will ask you to go and see an anaesthesiologist. This doctor will explain to you what is an epidural anaesthesia. You will be asked to do another blood test and signed a paper authorising doctors to use painkilling drug during your labor.   Bear in mind that the final choice to get an epidural anaesthesia remains to you. Indeed you will ask for it during the labor when you feel that the pain becomes too difficult to cope with. Ask how dilated you are. Indeed if you are dilated 8 or 9, you perhaps don't need it. But don't forget that the anaesthetic will be effective 10-20 minutes after the injection.    Nowadays epidural anaesthesia is very common. It is said to be a good pain reliever, having the advantage not to interfere with your awareness. Indeed the medical staff can dose the amount of anaesthetic allowing you to feel the labor, to push your baby out after your cervix' s dilation, and to live your delivery without the pain. The epidural anaesthesia can't be done before dilation 3.
	The process :

	The anaesthesiologist makes an injection in your lower back, between your 3rd and 4th vertebrae. A fine catheter is put and secured to your body, to allow further injections. You will be given a remote control to inject yourself more anaesthetic when you feel you need it. The effects of the epidural decrease gradually over a 1-2 hour period.

	Disadvantage of epidural anaesthesia :
	2 or 3 days after the injection you can feel backache and headache.
	EFFACEMENT & DILATATION OF THE CERVIX  :
	Checking of  your cervix. Indeed in normal condition the cervix remains closed. Thus the foetus can't move to the vagina, leading to a loss of the bags of water followed by a miscarriage. The cervix begins to change around the 8th - 9th month. This change is due to contractions which prepare the baby to go down. Doctors speak about effacement of the cervix (French term : effacement ou modification du col) and of dilatation of the cervix (French term: dilatation du col).   Effacement of the cervix corresponds to the part from closed cervix to the elimination of the cervical canal, that is to say when the cervix is not visible = when it is fully effaced.     As labour goes on, the effacement of the cervix is followed by its dilatation, that is to say the opening of the cervix. It happens progressively. It is longer for women who deliver for the first time than women who have already children. The baby can't go out until complete dilatation. It is very important to keep that in mind, especially the day you will deliver, when at home you will feel the first painful contractions. You have to go to the clinic or hospital, especially in case of first delivery. (see When going to the hospital / clinic). Dilatation measurement is given in France in centimetre.    From dilatation 1 to 3, the medical staff speak about pre-labor.   From dilatation 3 to 5, the medical staff speak about first stage of labor. You will be monitored by an electronic foetal monitoring.(EFM). It is a belt of electrodes which is strapped to your abdomen. Its aim is to monitor the heartbeat of your baby and at the same time your contractions. At the stage you will also given a drip. If the bags of water have not yet broken, the midwife will do it. You will feel nothing at all.   From dilatation 5 to 10, the medical staff speak about labor.
	CESAREAN :
	A cesarean is an abdominal operation whose aim is to deliver the baby when vaginal delivery is not possible. It is performed when :   the baby is too large to go through the mother's pelvis (that's why before the cesarean will be done, you will have an X-ray of your pelvis to know exactly its measures. In French it is called a radiopelvimétrie.   the baby is not head-down.   the baby suffers from uterine contractions.    ...    Cesarean or C-section are performed under anaesthetic, and more and more when it is possible under local one, thus allowing the mother to be conscious and to participate in the delivery. Indeed as soon as the baby is lifted out , she can be given to you immediately, as in vaginal delivery. Nowadays, the incision is done horizontally. Hospitalisation lasts around 10-12 days.

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