Labor and Delivery

Overview
Labor and Delivery, a labor ward or a labour ward is a department of a hospital devoted to childbirth. In many hospitals, "Labor and Delivery" is one department and "Maternity", where a woman recovers following birth, is another. In the United States, it is common practice to move a woman from Labor and Delivery to Maternity in the hour following birth.

Benefits and drawbacks
Delivery in the birthing department of a hospital is common practice in Western culture. Benefits include facilities and equipment for an emergency caesarean section and access to a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

Risks include drug complications (the leading adverse effect of hospitalization ) and the possibility of a nosocomial infection (infection contracted in a hospital, the second most frequent adverse effect of hospitalization ), responsible for 88,000 deaths in the United States in 1995.

History
The first maternity ward in the United States is established at Bellevue Hospital Center in 1799.

Alternatives
Alternatives to hospital delivery include birthing centers and home birth.