Childbirth, labour, delivery, birth, partus, or parturition is the culmination of a period of pregnancy with the expulsion of one or more newborn infants from a woman's uterus. The process of normal childbirth is categorized in three stages of labour: the shortening and dilation of the cervix, descent and birth of the infant, and the placenta being expelled

The most prominent sign of labour are the strong contractile waves that move the infant down the birth canal. The distress levels reported by labouring women vary widely. They appear to be influenced by fear and anxiety levels, experience with prior childbirth, cultural ideas of childbirth and pain, mobility during labour and the support given during labour.

Pain is only one factor of many influencing women's experience with the process of childbirth. A systematic review of 137 studies found that personal expectations, the amount of support from caregivers, quality of the caregiver-patient relationship, and involvement in decisionmaking are more important in women's overall satisfaction with the experience of childbirth than are other factors such as age, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, preparation, physical environment, pain, immobility, or medical interventions.