what exactly is a water birth?

Answer 1

A water birth is when the mother is in a tub/pool and births the baby in there. The water helps to relax the mother during the process and is a great way to deliver your baby. It's not done in a hospital, it's usually done at home with midwives there to help. I've never done it but it's gotten alot of good reviews :-)

Answer 2

water birth is usually done at home or with your mid wife or doula, where you simply have your baby in a pool. There are many advantages said be gain from a water birth, usually a quicker less painful birth but not many doctors deliver babies at home only at a hospital so for that it is a dis advantage. Most hospitals have big baths that you can deliver in but there may not be one available at the time you go into labour. Water birth is is a option defiantly worth looking into but depending on where you live finding a doula or a midwife may be a tough job. Good Luck

Answer 3

The child is delivered in a birthing pool about 4 ft deep

Answer 4

Is is precisely like that. The mom provides delivery in a bathtub of water. all of it comes right down to private decision, some locate the water calming. No, the child won't choke or drown. the child is already in amniotic fluid and could no longer take a breath till brought about to via hitting air or beind inspired via the Dr. in addition they do no longer could breathe because of the fact the oxygen they choose and get is provided for the duration of the umbilical cord (it is the ingredient linked to the child's abdomen button.

Answer 5

Women can have the Baby in a birthing pool, it looks like a Whirlpool tub.

Answer 6

giving birth in a bath of water or small pool,

Answer 7

It's exactly what it sounds like except that you are giving labor to your baby in a tub,jaccuzi,pool,etc.They said the water relaxes your body alot more.Are you pregnant and plan on trying something different?

Answer 8

Water birth is a method of giving birth in a bathtub or pool full of warm water. Proponents believe this method has many benefits for both mother and infant, and is a safe alternative to standard types of delivery.



The use of warm-water pools for labor and childbirth is a relatively recent phenomenon in Western culture. During the 1960s, Russian researcher Igor Tjarkovsky undertook considerable research into the safety and benefits of waterbirth in the Soviet Union. In the late 1960s, French obstetrician Frederick Leboyer developed the practice of immersing newly-born infants in warm water to help ease the transition from the womb to the outside world, and to mitigate the effects of any possible birth trauma.

Another French obstetrician, Michel Odent, took Leboyer's work further and used the warm-water birth pool for pain relief for the mother, and as a way to normalize the birth process. When some women refused to get out of the water to give birth, Odent started researching the benefits for the baby of being born under water -- and the potential problems in such births. By the late 1990s, thousands of women had given birth at Odent's birth centre at Pithiviers, and the notion of water birth had spread to many other western countries.

Water birth first came to the United States through couples giving birth at home, but soon was introduced into the medical environment of hospitals and free-standing birth centers by obstetricians and certified nurse midwives. In 1991, the first hospital to create a protocol for giving birth in water was Monadnock Community Hospital in Peterborough, New Hampshire. By 2005, there were over 300 hospitals in the US that had adopted such protocols. More than three-quarters of all National Health Service hospitals in the UK provide this option for laboring women.

At present, water birth is still widely practiced by those who choose to have a home birth because the majority of hospitals have not installed proper birth pools in their maternity wards.



Considerable research has been undertaken into the safety of water birth. Two of the most prolific researchers have been Michel Odent and the American obstetrician Michael Rosenthal. Dianne Garland, a midwife in the UK, has focused on gathering research through the NHS system and has published a book, "Waterbirth: An Attitude to Care." In the US, Barbara Harper, a nurse and childbirth educator, has explored waterbirth throughout the world and chronicaled the history and current use of waterbirth in dozens of countries in her book, "Gentle Birth Choices." An extensive bibliography of this research can be seen at Waterbirth International'



The warm water is relaxing and eases labour by reducing the excretion of adrenaline caused by pain and fear. [citation needed] The water also stimulates the release of endorphins. The elasticity of the perineum is increased. These all help to result in an easier birth with fewer lacerations and tears.

With increased buoyancy in the water the pregnant woman can change her position easily. In most cases, water births are shorter and less painful and few women need analgesics. The buoyancy also causes a hormonal change in the mother's body, giving her more oxytocin (the hormone responsible for labour contractions), making her labour more efficient.

Specially designed birth pools are large enough to accommodate a labor support person such as the father, or a midwife, and some are equipped with waterbed style heaters to maintain optimum water temperature. However, a roomy standard tub is also sufficient for those planning a home birth on a tight budget.

The great majority of women who have experienced water birth say that they would never want to have a baby any other way.


Birth is also a strenuous effort for the baby and water eases this exertion. The warm liquid is still familiar to the child and softens light, colors and noises.


There are some concerns with regard to water births, though most objections are because the idea is unusual.There is a minute risk that the baby can aspirate water if it is raised to the surface after the birth and then re-immersed. However, midwives and obstetricians are well aware of this risk and once the baby is brought to the surface the baby is placed straight on the woman's breast to feed and not re-immersed in the water. The baby's first breath is triggered by the absence of the water over the face which triggered the mammalian diving reflex along with contact with air pressure on the trigeminal nerve area of the face. For the first breath to take place the baby switches over from fetal circulation to newborn circulation, closing the shunts in the heart, creating pulmonary circulation, changing the pressures in the lungs, pushing out fluids that are already present in lung spaces and allowing for the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide. This process takes a few minutes to completely initiate, during which time the newborn typically is still receiving oxygen from the umbilical cord. There is no threat that the newborn will inhale water during the birth process since his trigger to breathe oxygen is not present until he makes contact with the air.

Another objection raised is that the water may increase the chance of infection for the baby, but to date there has been no research to support this contention. Midwives and doctors experienced with water births have not noted an increase in infection rates for either mother or baby


Water birth is accepted and practiced in many parts of the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and in many European countries, including England and Germany where many maternity clinics have birthing tubs. Some offer water birth and others offer only water labour. Also, many independent birthing centers and many home birth midwives offer water birth services.

Answer 9

my 4th baby was almost born in the bath at home....i am convinced it was the soak in the bath( i decided to take to pass time during my labour )that speeded up the whole process ....i just got out of the bath in the nick of time,my midwife also arrived in the nick of time, & i just made it onto my bed & out she came....she did all the work for me...go for it!!!!!