Cesarean section: an incision is made into the mother's abdomen and uterus to remove the baby from the womb surgically.

Doula: a professional labor or post-partum support person.

Electronic Fetal Monitor: an ultrasound machine that can monitor the baby's heart rate and the mother's contractions. It can be used externally through a belt around the mother's belly, or internally, with a small catheter screwed into the baby's head.

Epidural: a type of anesthesia used during labor that numbs the lower half of the mother's body. A pain-blocking drug is injected through a catheter and continually pumped into the epidural space in the mother's back.

Episiotomy: an incision made into stretchable tissue between the vaginal opening and the anus. Performed to make a larger opening for the baby to emerge in the final stages of labor.

Forceps: a medical instrument that clamps around a baby's head. Used to rotate a baby within or pull a baby out of the birth canal.

Intervention: instructions, medications, or medical procedures performed to manage a woman's labor and delivery during birth.

Midwife: a person who is trained in the gynecological health and the labor and delivery care of women.

Oxytocin: a hormone produced in the pituitary gland that is secreted during pleasurable touch and orgasm. It also stimulates the uterus to contract during labor and causes the letdown of milk in mothers' breasts.

Pitocin: a synthetic form of oxytocin. Administered through an IV to stimulate contractions.

Vacuum: a medical instrument used to extract a baby from the birth canal. A plastic cup is placed on the baby's head and attached to a suction device.