Editing Birth (section)

{{Short description|Process of bearing offspring}}
{{hatnote|This article is primarily about birth in non-human mammals and other animals. For birth in humans specifically, see [[Childbirth]]. For other uses, see [[Birth (disambiguation)]].}}
{{Redirect|Parturition|the ''Star Trek'' episode|Parturition (Star Trek: Voyager)}}
[[File:Lambing in England -10March2012 (2).jpg|right|thumb|[[Lambing]]: the mother licks the first lamb while giving birth to the second]]
'''Birth''' is the act or process of bearing or bringing forth [[offspring]],<ref>"birth". [[OED Online]]. June 2013. Oxford University Press. [http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/19395 Entry 19395] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221122112522/https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/19395 |date=2022-11-22 }} (accessed 30 August 2013).</ref> also referred to in technical contexts as '''parturition'''. In mammals, the process is initiated by hormones which cause the muscular walls of the [[uterus]] to contract, expelling the fetus at a developmental stage when it is ready to feed and breathe.

In some species, the offspring is [[precocial]] and can move around almost immediately after birth but in others, it is [[altricial]] and completely dependent on parenting.

In [[marsupial]]s, the fetus is born at a very immature stage after a short [[gestation]] and develops further in its mother's womb  [[Pouch (marsupial)|pouch]].

It is not only mammals that give birth. Some reptiles, amphibians, fish and invertebrates carry their developing young inside them. Some of these are [[Ovoviviparity|ovoviviparous]], with the eggs being hatched inside the mother's body, and others are [[Viviparity|viviparous]], with the [[embryo]] developing inside their body, as in the case of mammals.