Imagine giving birth to your baby in a warm tub of water. This process, called water birth, is believed to reduce stress during labor and childbirth, since the baby who has grown in the mother's uterus for about nine months, surrounded by amniotic fluid, will be experiencing a transition to a somewhat similar environment. This is why some women, together with their obstetricians or midwives, opt to undergo labor and deliver their babies in water – to reduce stress and complications of childbirth.
What Is Water Birth?
During water birth, a mother gives birth to her baby in a tub or pool, which may be located in a hospital, a birthing center, or even at home. A woman may undergo labor in the water and move out of the tub to deliver her baby, or stay in the water and give birth. The midwife, nurse or doctor then lifts the baby out of the tub.
In a hospital, both mother and baby receive medical care that is similar to that given to them if delivery took place on a hospital bed. A Doppler device designed for use underwater monitors the heartbeats of the baby during the process. This may or may not be done when the process takes place at home or in a birth center. Intravenous (IV) medications may also be given to the mother during water birth.
What Is It Like to Have a Water Birth?
The mother sits in an upright position in a birth pool, which gives gravity the advantage as the baby is delivered. It should be quite comfortable, as it is easier to push out the baby into water than air. The tub as well as the water support the mother's body.
Although it might feel uncomfortable when you accidentally move your bowels as the baby is delivered, there is no need to worry because it is easy to clean up.
After delivery, the baby is immediatel...
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... the risk for complications for the mother and baby.
How to Prepare for a Water Birth
First ask your doctor or midwife if equipment (special tub) for water birth are available in your area.
Check if hospital policies allow water birth, if you prefer to give birth in a hospital.
If you choose to give birth at home, find out if you can rent or buy a birthing tub online. You can also check if expenses may be covered by insurance.
Contact your the birth in your locality offers water birth options.
Summary
Watch a water birth video and find out if it is a good option for you and your baby. Giving birth in water has been shown to be a safe and rewarding experience, but it also has some risks.
Works Cited
http://www.webmd.com/baby/guide/water-birth http://www.babycentre.co.uk/a542015/whats-a-water-birth-like http://americanpregnancy.org/labornbirth/waterbirth.html
She checks me, and tracks my surges. My surges are not as frequent as earlier so she recommends for me to sit on the birthing ball. I sit up right on the birthing ball, and lean back on Poet for support and those surges are coming now. I tense up, and my midwife's assistant beautifully guides me through each surge, encouraging me to relax instead of tense up with each contraction. After a while of being on the birthing ball, I am guided to the bathroom, and I sit on the toilet for a few of the surges and finally I am ready to get in the tub and begin pushing. I felt like I was never going to meet our baby. I felt like our baby was
...other can move around more freely and find positions that help her stay comfortable during labor. Natural child birth is also a very intimate process. Your partner can be involved in the process as you work together to manage your pain (2013, November).
"7 Tips For Having A Natural Childbirth." Fit Pregnancy. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2013. .
The use of epidurals is so common today that many perinatal professionals are calling the 1990s the age of the epidural epidemic. Believed by many in the medical profession to be safe and effective, the epidural seems now to be regarded as a veritable panacea for dealing with the pain of childbirth. It is true that most women experience pain during the course of labor. This pain can be intense and very real, even for those who have prepared for it. But pain is only one of many possible sensations and experiences that characterize the experience of giving birth. Barbara Katz Rothman, a sociologist who studies birth in America, writes that in the medical management of childbirth, the experience of the mother is viewed by physicians as pain: pain experienced and pain to be avoided.1 Having experienced childbirth ourselves, we have great compassion for women in painful labors. However, we also feel a responsibility to mothers and their babies to explore issues concerning the use of epidural anesthesia in labor issues that are seldom discussed prenatally.
There is often debate regarding the topic of home birth vs. hospital birth. The debates may be fueled by common misconceptions due to the medicalization of birth. Even though there is extensive evidence based research on the safe outcomes of home and natural birth, many people still refute the concept. The outcomes for women delivering at home attended by certified
...o find a balance between interventional and non-interventional birth. With this being said, I also understand that there are strict policies and protocols set in place, which I must abide to as a healthcare provider, in any birth setting. Unfortunately, these guidelines can be abused. Christiane Northrup, MD, a well recognized and respected obstetrician-gynecologist has gone as far as to tell her own daughters that they should not give birth in a hospital setting, with the safest place being home (Block, 2007, p. xxiii). Although I am not entirely against hospital births, I am a firm believe that normal, healthy pregnancies should be fully permissible to all midwives. However, high-risk pregnancies and births must remain the responsibility of skilled obstetricians. My heart’s desire is to do what is ultimately in the best interest of the mother, and her unborn child.
The hospital room holds all the usual scenery: rooms lining featureless walls, carts full of foreign devices and competent looking nurses ready to help whatever the need be. The side rails of the bed smell of plastic. The room is enveloped with the smell of plastic. A large bed protrudes from the wall. It moves from one stage to the next, with the labor, so that when you come to the "bearing" down stage, the stirrups can be put in place. The side rails of the bed provide more comfort than the hand of your coach, during each contraction. The mattress of the bed is truly uncomfortable for a woman in so much pain. The eager faces of your friends and family staring at your half naked body seem to be acceptabl...
The version of childbirth that we’re used to is propagated by television and movies. A woman, huge with child, is rushed to the hospital when her water breaks. She is ushered into a delivery room and her husband hovers helplessly as nurses hook her up to IVs and monitors. The woman writhes in pain and demands relief from the painful contractions. Narcotic drugs are administered through her IV to dull the pain, or an epidural is inserted into the woman’s spine so that she cannot feel anything below her waist. When the baby is ready to be born, the doctor arrives dressed in surgical garb. The husband, nurses and doctor become a cheerleading squad, urging the woman to, “Push!” Moments later, a pink, screaming newborn is lifted up for the world to see. Variations on this theme include the cesarean section, where the woman is wheeled to the operating room where her doctors remove the baby through an incision in her abdomen.
People have begun to recognize the improved benefits of baby wearing. They discovered that kids that are worn during the day have less instances of colic, they feel less of a need to cry, and they are generally happier. However, many parents adhere to the old wives tail about if you hold your baby too much, you will spoil them. But how much of that belief is true?
New technologies are being developed every day. The latest advance in fetal monitoring is the fetal oxygen monitor: “A device that directly measures fetal oxygen saturation during labor and delivery is now available and has the potential to reduce the number of Cesarean sections performed for non-reassuring heart rates.” (Mechcatie) The article by Mechcatie describes the monitor extremely well: “The device’s sensor, located at the end of a flexible tube, is made of pliable plastic and is inserted through the cervical os until it lies along the fetal cheek, where the pressure of the uterine wall keeps it in place during labor. The sensor shines light into the fetal skin and computes the oxygen saturation by measuring the color of the reflected light coming through the blood cells.”
Worldwide, the rate of cesarean section is increasing. According to the CDC, in 2012 the rate of cesarean sections comprised 32.8% of all births in the United States (CDC, 2013). Between 1996-2009 the cesarean section rate has risen 60% in the U.S (CDC, 2013). According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 50% of the 137 countries studies had cesarean section rates higher than 15% (WHO, 2010). The current goal of U.S. 2020 Healthy People is to reduce the rate of cesarean section to a target of 23.9%, which is almost 10% lower than the current rate (Healthy People 2020, 2013). According to a study conducted by Gonzales, Tapia, Fort, and Betran (2013), the appropriate percentage of performed cesarean sections is unclear, and is dependent on the circumstances of each individual birth (p. 643). Though often a life-saving procedure when necessary, the risks and complications associated with cesarean delivery are a cause for alarm due to the documented rate increase of this procedure across the globe. Many studies have revealed that cesarean deliveries increase the incidence of maternal hemorrhage and mortality and neonatal respiratory distress when compared to vaginal deliveries. As a result, current research suggests that efforts to reduce the rate of non-medically indicated cesarean sections should be made, and that comprehensive patient education should be provided when considering an elective cesarean delivery over a planned vaginal delivery.
Perry, S. E., Hockenberry, M. J., Lowdermilk, D. L., & Wilson, D. (2013). Labor and Birth Processes. In Maternal Child Nursing Care (5th ed., p. 351). Elsevier-Health Sciences Division.
Unlike vaginal birth delivery, the process of a cesarean delivery is quite different, but just as safe as giving vaginal birth (Taylor, 1). When delivering a baby using the cesarean method, there are two ways anesthetic can be used. The women can be put into an unconscious state using the anesthetic, therefore she will be asleep during the entire operation and her coach may not be present. The other way for the anesthetic to be used would be in an epidural or spinal block to temporarily numb the woman from her waist down. In this case the mother will be awake and her coach may be present to give her extra support. Once the anesthetic is working, an incision is made in the abdomen either horizontally or vertically, depending on the reason for the cesarean delivery. A vertical incision is made when the baby is in trouble and needs to be out as quickly as possible, when there is more time the horizontal incision is used. The baby is then lifted out of the uterus and gone for the APGAP procedure. The placenta is then removed and the mother’s reproductive organs are examined before closing the incision (Taylor, 1).
The miracle of life is something most of us will experience in our lifetime. The process before actually giving birth, I think is the hardest part of the entire scenario of child bearing. This amazing experience is something that can make the individuals who are involved in the process change in so many ways. The process of giving birth, for those of you who have not experienced or will never experience it, can be very hard, long and rewarding all at the same time. To give a better description, think of eating a fireball. At first the fireball is tame and calm, but just when you least expect it the fireball becomes hot. Then, when the hot sensation becomes too much, the sweet flavor of the fireball breaks through.