Labor & Delivery in Low Resource and Emergency Settings Manual (Downloadable PDF)

Labor & Delivery Training Manual (Downloadable PDF)

Prepare yourself or your community with clear, compassionate, and practical guidance for responding to childbirth when professional support is unavailable. This Labor & Delivery Training Manual is a comprehensive, step-by-step resource designed specifically for low-resource, emergency, and unexpected birth situations. Adapted from the respected work Errand of Angels and created by experienced midwives and birth professionals, this manual empowers everyday people to assist safely and calmly when birth happens outside of medical settings.

Inside, you’ll find easy-to-follow instructions, visual demonstrations, and quick reference cards that walk you through:

✔ Understanding Normal Birth

Learn what to expect in each stage of labor, how to support a birthing mother physically and emotionally, and how to encourage safe progression without unnecessary intervention.

✔ Emergency Response Techniques

Step-by-step guidance for handling common variations that can occur during childbirth, including:

• Long or stalled labor

• Breech presentation

• Shoulder dystocia (“sticky shoulders”)

• Cord around the neck

• Retained placenta

• Newborn not breathing

• Maternal bleeding/hemorrhage

Each scenario includes practical actions that someone with basic training can perform to protect both mother and baby.

✔ Newborn & Post-Birth Care

Detailed instructions for immediate newborn support—such as skin-to-skin, postural drainage, and inflation breaths—as well as essential steps for keeping the mother safe, nourished, and stable.

✔ Role-Play & Training Scenarios

A full set of real-life practice scenarios helps individuals, families, preparedness groups, and communities rehearse emergency births with confidence.

✔ Printable Quick Reference Cards & Birth Certificates

Includes convenient, cut-out reference cards summarizing key steps for various complications, along with simple birth certificate templates for recordkeeping in off-grid or emergency environments.

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Why This Manual Is Valuable

Whether you’re a preparedness-minded family, a community leader, a birth worker in training, or someone who simply wants to be ready to help when professional care is unreachable, this manual provides practical, life-saving knowledge written in calm, reassuring language.

It emphasizes:

• Staying grounded and confident

• Protecting mother and baby with minimal supplies

• Safe, hands-off techniques

• Natural physiological birth support

• Clear, repeatable procedures anyone can learn

This guide is not a substitute for professional medical training, but it equips you with the essential information needed to respond wisely when help cannot arrive.

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Format

• Digital Download (PDF)

• 69 pages of instructional content, illustrations, reference cards, and checklist

Media Review by Midwifery Today

“Adapted from the book Errand of Angels: Responding to Unexpected Childbirth, by Charlene Campbell, this book and video are used for training students who will assist with birth. Using demonstrations, photos, and step-by-step instructions, these two midwives take us through the stages of birth and post-delivery. Normal delivery is covered, as well as variations on normal, including long labor, breech position, shoulder dystocia, and cord around the neck. Also addressed are postpartum hemorrhage and baby not breathing. With a section on role-playing for various scenarios, this book and DVD would make a great addition to training materials and libraries of all fire departments and EMT services. It even includes cards that can be cut out and included in a birth kit, and birth certificates.”

Disclaimer:

The Labor & Delivery Training for Emergency and Low Resource Situations is meant to help you
respond well in an emergency or unexpected situation where childbirth is imminent and no
other care is available. It will help you respond in a way that will help protect mother and baby
for the best possible outcome. This training is not meant to prepare you to be a midwife which
takes years of study and practice. This DVD and Manual is Not intended to replace professional
help during childbirth. Never attempt to purposely deliver a baby without trained professional
help during childbirth.