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WATER BIRTH
“Imagine . . .remembering your birth as gentle, warm, soothing, and wonderful . . .”
Warm water immersion during labor and birth can be a great way to help alleviate pain and discomfort. It offers warmth, weightlessness and relaxation especially when the laboring mother is able to submerge her belly and lower body. This is accomplished easily with the use of a birthing tub. AquaNatal Birth Sap has large birthing tubs in the birth rooms, and we have portable tubs available for use during homebirth, for a small fee. They are wider and deeper than a regular bathtub, more like the size of a small hot tub. This larger size combined with the weightlessness of water immersion offers moms greater ease of movement during labor and birth. Water immersion during early labor can slow down progress sometimes, so your midwife may ask you to wait until active labor to get into the tub. During active labor water immersion has been known to speed up progress, perhaps due to the profound relaxation experienced. Many women take this comfort measure a step further and birth their babies into the water.
Waterbirth offers a gentle transition from mother’s womb to the outside world. Waterborn babies are birthed into an environment much the same as the amniotic sac- warm and watery. It is an intermediate step that allows the baby to adjust slowly to this new life. Babies do not begin the breathing process until they sense a change from a watery environment into the air. It is for this reason along with others that there is no risk of drowning for healthy waterborn babies. It is also for this reason that waterborn babies take a little longer than dry land birthed babies to initiate the breathing process. They may be a bit bluer in color at first, but are fine when they “catch up”. It is recommended to bring the baby to the surface of the water as soon as the body is born.
There is no additional charge for having a waterbirth with the AquaBirth midwives – either at the Birth Center or at your home. The birth tub is large & deep and can be easily set up at your home – and our fees include all birth supplies.
If you are interested in learning more about laboring and birthing in water then please come join us for an inspiring and fascinating evening of discussion and waterbirth videos. We discuss the benefits of waterbirth and provide tips on how to effecively use the pool for optimal pain relief and labor enjoyment.*Time and dates vary - the 1 hour "Wondering About Waterbirth?" class is usually offered once a month.
Please call 909-591-2924 to schedule a class with Joyce & LynnWater Therapy: I am pregnant, is it suitable for me?
Yes! Once you are in you won’t want to get out!
Mid term pregnant women often find considerable relief from pain and stiffness, particularly while floating prone, with elbows on the floor of the tank and chin cupped in hands. In this position the baby is fully floating and the mother’s back and pelvic girdle are released from the weight.Mothers-to-be have also remarked that floating has allowed them to lie on their back, something they have not done for some time. We also have a special float pillow which will allow you to lay on your front too!
"Pregnancy and Birth" magazine gave floatation 10/10 as a useful pregnancy therapy! If you are in any doubt, please call the AquaNatal Birth Center at: 909-591-2924.
Waterbirth — A Sacred Journey
What is "water birth? "Water birth" is the use of a
heated water bath or pool by a laboring woman
during labor and birth.Most people are drawn to water. After a hard
day's work, few things feel better than a soak
in the tub. Likewise, in the midst of the summer
months, few things are as refreshing as a cool
swim. During pregnancy, labor and birth water
becomes even more desirable, water soothes,
relaxes and rejuvenates, providing women an
easy way to unwind and let go.
During childbirth endorphins are released in your body which
helps you feel less pain. However, anxiety can cause the release
of adrenaline, which inhibits the effect of the endorphins.
Adrenaline also inhibits the release of oxytocin, the hormone
that causes uterine labor contractions, which means feeling
anxious and nervous can not only make you feel more pain, but
it can also make your contractions less effective. Getting into a
soothing tub of water relaxes you and allows your body's natural
endorphins and oxytocin to kick in. Immediately, your contractions
are less painful and more effective, which may account for why
water births are proving to be shorter than traditional births.On top of the internal relaxation effect is the topical effect of the
warm water. It is supportive and surrounding. It buoys you up
and cradles you in its warmth. It allows tight and tired muscles to
relax fully, to release their tension and to be rejuvenated for the
next contraction. The water also acts topically to soften the
tissues of the perineum, making episiotomies much less necessary
and causing fewer and less severe, tears.The ease of the mother who labors and gives birth in water
becomes the ease of the child who is born in the water. For the
baby…the baby has been in amniotic water through pregnancy
and being born in water is a gentle transition from the womb to
your loving arms, water is familiar to the baby and helps him to
feel more secure. The baby emerges into the water and is "caught"
either by the mother herself or the birth attendant. In the water,
the child has freedom of movement within familiar fluid surroundings. A baby's limb's can also unfold with greater ease during those first moments
when he leaves his mother's body and enters the water. The water
offers a familiar comfort after birth, reassuring the child and allowing his bodily systems time to
organize.We love attending water births!!! Viewed as a whole, it is no mystery why water birth is growing so
rapidly in popularity. It offers so many benefits – less pain, shorter labors, a greater sense of
relaxation, a greater sense of control, and, no negative side effects for the mother and baby.
Researcher Studies Warm Baths
To Ease Labor PainBy Nancy McGillicuddy
From Pieces of Eight, Nov. 3, 2003
Pieces of Eight is the newspaper for faculty and staff of East Carolina University.http://www.news.ecu.edu/poe/1103/hydro.html
Rebecca Benfield (Nursing) is studying the effects of warm water on anxiety and pain during labor. Hydrotherapy tubs like the one pictured may provide an effective alternative to standard pain treatments. (Photo by Nancy McGillicuddy)
Hydrotherapy in labor
Research in Nursing & Health
Volume 24, Issue 1 , Pages 57 - 67
Published Online: 8 Mar 2001
Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Rebecca D. Benfield 1 *, JoAnne Herman 2, Vern L. Katz 3, Steven P. Wilson 4, J. Mark Davis 5
1Nurse-Midwifery Education Program, Department of Family and Child Nursing, East Carolina University School of Nursing, Rivers Building Room 203, Greenville, NC 27858-4353
2College of Nursing, Department of Administrative and Clinical Nursing, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC
3Center for Genetics and Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Sacred Heart Hospital, Eugene, OR
4Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, School of Medicine, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC
5Department of Exercise Science, University of South Carolina School of Public Health, Columbia, SC
*Correspondence to Rebecca D. Benfield, Nurse-Midwifery Education Program, Department of Family and Child Nursing, East Carolina University School of Nursing, Rivers Building Room 203, Greenville, NC 27858-4353
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/77502695/ABSTRACT?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0Hydrotherapy in Labor
Journal of Nursing Scholarship
1Rebecca D. Benfield, PhD, CNM, Beta Nu, Assistant Professor, School of Nursing, and Clinical Assistant Professor, School of Medicine, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC
Volume 34 Issue 4 Page 347-352, December 2002
Rebecca D. Benfield (2002)
Journal of Nursing Scholarship 34 (4) , 347–352 doi:10.1111/j.1547-5069.2002.00347.x
BMJ 2004;328:314 (7 February), doi:10.1136/bmj.37963.606412.EE (published 26 January 2004)
Elizabeth R Cluett, lecturer in midwifery1, Ruth M Pickering, senior lecturer in medical statistics2, Kathryn Getliffe, professor of nursing1, Nigel James St George Saunders, medical director3
1 Nightingale Building (67), University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, 2 Medical Statistics Group, Health Care Research Unit (805), Southampton General Hospital, Southampton SO16 6YD, 3 Trust Management Office (Mail point 18), Southampton General Hospital, Southampton SO16 6YD
Correspondence to: E R Cluett m_newburn@national-childbirth-trust.co.uk
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/328/7435/314
Maternal and neonatal infections and obstetrical outcome in water birth
European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology
Volume 134, Issue 1, September 2007, Pages 37-43doi:10.1016/j.ejogrb.2006.09.012
Copyright © 2006 Elsevier Ireland Ltd All rights reserved.Rosanna A. Zanetti-Daellenbach, a, , Sibil Tschudina, Xiao Yan Zhonga, Wolfgang Holzgrevea, Olav Lapairea and Irene Höslia
aWomen's University Hospital Basel, Spitalstrasse 21, 4031 Basel, Switzerland
Received 28 June 2006; revised 28 August 2006; accepted 25 September 2006. Available online 7 November 2006.
Waterproofing EMG Instrumentation
Biological Research For Nursing , Vol. 8, No. 3, 195-201 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1099800406293313
© 2007 SAGE Publications
Rebecca D. Benfield, CNM, PhD East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, benfieldr@mail.ecu.edu
Edward R. Newton, MD Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina
Tibor Hortobágyi, PhD
Department of Exercise and Sport Science, Biomechanics Laboratory at East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolinahttp://brn.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/8/3/195
Has the medicalisation of childbirth gone too far?
BMJ 2002;324:892-895 ( 13 April )
Richard Johanson
, professor of obstetrics a, Mary Newburn, head of policy research b, Alison Macfarlane, professor of perinatal health c. a Academic Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, North Staffordshire Maternity Hospital, Stoke on Trent ST4 6QG, b National Childbirth Trust, Alexandra House, Oldham Terrace, London W3 6NH, c Department of Midwifery, St Bartholomew School of Nursing and Midwifery, City University, London EC1A 7QN
Correspondence to: M Newburn m_newburn@national-childbirth-trust.co.uk
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