This document summarizes the key mechanisms involved in human parturition (childbirth), focusing on the role of corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH). It discusses how CRH levels increase exponentially in late pregnancy, driven by positive feedback loops between the placenta, fetus, and mother. Rising CRH levels help time birth by stimulating fetal lung maturation and changes in the uterus that promote contractions. Specifically, CRH acts in the mother to increase cortisol and in the fetus to stimulate adrenal steroidogenesis, providing substrates for estrogen production and further stimulating CRH release from the placenta. This tightly regulated hormonal interplay ensures the timing of birth is well-coordinated between mother and fetus.