Childbirth.org

‘Birth is a natural process, not a medical procedure' is the slogan of this long-running site produced by a group of childbirth professionals including midwives, nurses and doulas. The homepage presents a long list of departments in a menu panel down the left-hand side of the screen. New additions to the site are highlighted underneath the welcome at the centre of the page and immediately below is a keyword search facility.

SPECIAL FEATURES

Ask the Pros is divided into sections according to the type of expert - childbirth educator, doula, fitness pro, lactation consultant, midwife, nurse - many more types of specialists than normally featured on this type of section. You can submit your own question and, of course, view previous responses.

Birth Plans are a written statement about your preferences for labour and birth. In this section there are links to pages on birth plans covering FAQs, legal ramifications, choices available and how they may later affect breastfeeding, plus an interactive online birth plan.

Birth Stories seem to be a popular feature of parenting sites. Childbirth.org handles it well by pointing out right away that these are experiences of the general public and the views they may express are not professional medical opinion. The birth stories are categorised into small batches for leisure reading, or by theme, and you can contribute your own.

Girl or Boy is an interactive quiz that determines your baby's gender based on old wives' tales. It's just a fun load of tosh, not a guarantee of outcome, of course.