WATERBIRTH

Water birth has many advantages:

• Provides a kind, gentle and loving entrance into this world for the baby
  
• The women achieve achieve much comfort in the water
  
• Reduces fear and anxiety
  
• The body relaxes
  
• Provides significant pain relief
  
• Floating in a pool the woman can move unencumbered
  
• Labour becomes easier
  
• Speeds up the labour
  
• The woman can focus better inwardly on giving birth
  
• Water imparts elasticity to the tissues of the perenium which reduces tearing
  
• Eliminates episiotomies
  
• No need for 'pain-reducing' drugs
  
• Reduces the rate of cesarean sections
  ease of the mother tranferred to the child (intricately linked)
  
• Makes the experience of birthing a positive one
  
• Water mitigates the sensory overload and shock experienced by the newborn
  
  and more benefits are:
  
  
• Reduces blood pressure
  
• Gives mother more feelings of control
  
• Conserves her energy
  
• Gives mother a private protected space
  
• Is highly rated by mothers - women who have given birth in water would do it again
  
• Is highly rated by experienced providers
  
• A gentler welcome for babies
  
• Mother or father can more readily catch her baby
  
• Bacteria is dissipated in water reducing infection to mother and baby
  
• Cleaning up is easier
  
• Moist air assist better breathing for mother specifically if asthmatic
  
• Conservation of maternal energy
  
• Less problems with breastfeeding after birth
  
• Less trauma to mother means less trauma to baby
  
• Babies brought into a world with less violence have a greater potential to integrate into the world with less violence

Water birth means when the lower portion of the labouring woman is immeresed in water while giving birth to the baby. In water labour the woman stays in the water during labour and leaves the tub before the delivery. Both methods are advantageaous for the mother, the waterbirth offers advantage for gentle entrance in this world for the baby.

The water used should be kept at approximately 98 degrees (body temperature), you can use tapwater with a chlorine water-filter.

As a general guideline - not a rule - the woman should enter the tub not until the active phase of her labour (when her contractions are coming regularly, 4 cm dilated). Getting in before can slow down the labour instead of facilitating it.

The woman may stay during labour in the tub or get out and walk or go to the bathroom.

When the baby is born, the parents or the birth attendant can bring the baby to the surface to breathe and on mothers breast.
This is should be done immediately, although there is no rush because the baby will receive oxygen through the umbilical cord from the mother, as long as the blood is flowing through the cord.

The afterbirth, or placenta, which will come out anywhere from a few minutes up to half an hour after the baby is born , can be bithed into the water, standing in a container or after leaving the tub.

...Water, especially the sea, has always been my miracle recipe to relax and forget the anxieties of the world... At age 34 I finally found the time, the frame of mind and the right man to plan for a baby.

I spent most of my maternity leave looking for a place not far from home in Geneva, Switzerland, where I could deliver my baby Alberto in water. I finally found the ideal place: a very good hospital in the vicinity of Lausanne. The basin was not the large transparent pool of my dreams, but a traditional tub, maybe a bit larger, with handles to grip onto and warm water. I was not allowed to go into the water until dilation started.

Going from 0 to 2 cms dilation was the most painful and lenghty part of my labour, because I wasn't in the water. It took me one and a half days of false labour. When I finally got into water, I relaxed immediately. With Vivaldi's music in the background and my husband holding my hands, I was the happiest woman in labour on earth. Pain suddenly disappeared.

I felt in total control of my contractions, which had magically become regular and long enough to be effective. In one hour I reached 6 cms dilation. The doctor, who had almost lost any hope of letting me deliver in water because he thought it would take too long for me to dilate, was called urgently to break my waters. By the time he came, 5 minutes later, I was already at 8 cms. Alberto came out almost instantly thereafter.

All the medical staff and my husband were moved by the sight of this relaxed smiling baby who was staring at them from underwater, his eyes wide open. He was left for one minute in this position underwater and then he was slow taken out and put between my breasts. He closed his eyes and started breathing on his own - with the cord still attached.

Those were the most wonderful 5 minutes of my life. He only started crying 20 minutes later when the nurses put his first clothing on him. He has been a wonderful baby ever since. He has always slept and eaten well, with record growth rates. At 3 months he started Aquababy classes and by 5 months he could swim and dive. He still likes water very much, especially the sea. He walked at 10 months and at 15 months he understands 3 languages and says quite a few words in all of them. I'm sure he (and I) both had the right start, in water.

Read more birth stories at Waterbirthinfo.com (see first link in list above)

The information contained on this website is of a general nature and is designed for educational purposes only. The information is not meant to replace the recommendations or advise of your midwife or doctor. Please consult your midwife or doctor regarding your health care.