Professor Jane Norman is Professor of Maternal and Fetal Health at the University and Director of the Tommy’s Centre of Maternal and Fetal Health. Birth is the single event that unites us all. There is still much to learn about this process and there are few treatments when birth goes wrong. Pre-term birth is on the rise. It is the single biggest cause of death and disability amongst babies born in the UK. Maternal obesity is also increasing with associated problems for mothers and babies including increased risk of miscarriage, caesarean section and maternal death. This lecture will trace the detective work used to understand the process of labour and how we can improve outcomes for mums and babies. This lecture is part of the Medical Detectives, a series of public lectures that show how keen detective work is still essential for 21st century doctors: http://www.ed.ac.uk/news/events/medical-detectives/ Recorded on Thursday 21 October 2010 in the Anatomy Lecture Theatre at the University of Edinburgh.