Water Births

I had a water birth and it was great. It was only sort of half planned. I had said to my midwife that if I liked the pool I would like to stay in there to give birth.
Some things that I didnt think of.....
* Skin on skin would only be for a few minutes while I was still in the pool with him. Once DH cut the cord, he had more skin on skin while I got sorted out getting out of the pool. DH was surprised to be handed the baby so quickly to have skin to skin.....but it was a really precious moment fo him.
* DH was a little bit dissapointed to not have the option to see him being born (I wasnt that upset about that :-) )

For a first time baby, you might have a bit more pushing time required so you might like someone in the pool with you

Good luck

Oh and keep your fluids up cos you can sweat a tonne in the spa......or anywhere you are in labour for that matter.
If the edges of the pool are skinnyish (sp?) then drape a towel over the edge, or you will have very sore underarms the next day.....I hope that made sense

ah - i see what you mean - DH was planning on staying away from the business end anyway, so that's ok

I had a water birth although I still dont know if I loved it or not. I guess it was nice and could have possibly been a lot more difficult out of the water.
I got to the point of pushing pretty fast and the mw just told me to jump in the bath. I had never even though about a water birth up until that point.
Any way the things I liked about it was it was really relaxing and I had quite a calm birth which was really nice. It was really good for the baby as it was such a smooth transition coming out of the womb into the water and she was so relaxed. Being my second it was nice to feel I had more control and I just went with my body. The mw just watched from the side of the pool. (I may have found that a bit scary if it were my first) It also made the whole thing pretty tidy and I didn't feel as gross after.

The things I didn't like (or just went prepared for) was once the head was out I was really worried about it just sitting under water. It felt like ages before the next contraction and I could push again. I know that the baby is fine at this stage but I couldn't help but worry (especially as I had no idea about water births). Im not sure if this is normal but I was left holding the baby still in the bath for over an hour before they cut the cord. I couldn't sit anywhere because the bath was too deep so was squatting trying to keep the baby out of the water. They had to keep filling the bath to stop it getting cold and I was finding it really difficult keeping the baby above the water because the cord wouldn't stretch far enough.

I think I just didnt have the best experience and have heard of so many people that loved it. I have never really been a big bath fan, although it was a very easy birth (even with my daughter weight 9lb6) I think if I did it again I would have liked to have known more about it before hand and also sit after it.

I found I had heaps of skin-on-skin contact at the beginning, 1hr+. So I guess its different for everyone. And DH was really no worried that he couldn't see anything. The mw could see everything going on so I'm sure if he wanted to he could have, I think I was leaning on the side more on my front, so my legs were out behind me.

oh wow, see i would have much prefered that. My mw had to catch the placenta in a bucket which was kinda strange

what do you wear in the pool for the birth?

I wore a t-shirt although it probably would have been easier to wear nothing.

oh and i wore nothing it was only my mum and midwife and i felt comfortable enough like that, this time im taking a bikini top but dont know if ill use it

well susie, i laboured in the bath & loved it! i loved the feeling of being able to totally relax in between contractions. it also helped with the pain. i wasn't allowed back in the pool, but used the shower. and that was fantastic too.

This time we planning a water birth all going to plan. I wore nothing, much easier that way. & to be completely honest, you really do loose all dignity when in labour, also you don't tend to care too much botu it either. at least i didnt n i know a couple of others who didnt.

deffinately be prepared for anything. i wasn't allowed back in coz of mecconium in the waters (could be sign of maturity or distress) but mw this time said she pays no notice to that just keeps monitoring baby & goes off baby's heartbeat.

busymum wrote: All I would say is be prepared for a back-up plan or change of mind. I tried water birth for my first baby but found I couldn't stand the movement of the water at the same time as contractions! I was a bit floored by that but was definitely out of the bath! Hope you like it though - most people seem to

I totally agree with this we wer kinda planning one for Ems, but had to be induced at the hospital. I spent all my time in the shower pretty much and relised i would have hated to pool cause I love to walk and pace while in labour.