As the moment of birth approaches, there is an intensification of actions performed on the woman, as she is transferred to a delivery room, placed in the lithotomy position, covered with sterile sheets and doused with antiseptic, and an episiotomy is performed. As her baby is being born, the mother may be slightly raised and allowed to watch in a mirror. After the birth, she is handed the baby for a certain amount of time, her placenta is extracted if it does not come out quickly on its own, her episiotomy is sewn up, her uterus is palpated, more pitocin is administered to assist her uterus to contract, and finally, she is cleaned up and transferred to a hospital bed.

The baby too receives a good deal of procedural attention during her hospital birth. While still in the womb she may be viewed with ultrasound; her heart tones are monitored; some times an electrode is inserted under the skin of her scalp. As the baby emerges from the birth canal, her head is supported and turned, her shoulders may be slightly twisted, and the mucus is sucked from her mouth and nostrils with a suction device. Immediately after her birth, the newborn's umbilical cord will be cut. She will be rated with an Apgar chart at two different times, washed, weighed, and wrapped; silver nitrate or an antibiotic substitute will be put into her eyes, and she will be given a Vitamin K injection. She may then be handed to her mother and/or father for a brief period of time, after which she will be transferred to the nursery and placed in a plastic bassinet or a radiant warmer for about four hours, for assessment and observation.