12 Pros and Cons of Water Births
Many women opt to have a non traditional birthing experience with their pregnancies. Water births are just one of these options. These are births that occur in water, either a bathtub or a birthing tub. It is thought that being immersed in water simulates the same environment of the womb and allows the baby to slip from warm, wet womb into the warm, wet water, therefore causing less distress and an overall easier birth. Critics of water births question the safety involved for the new born as well as the effectiveness of the process. If you are thinking about giving water birth a shot, it is important to educate yourself on all of the benefits and drawbacks that are associated.
The Pros of Water Births
1. Helps To Relax During Labor
The pain and stress that is endured during labor and child birth is very intense. Being submerged in the water produces relaxing effects for the entire body, as well as pain relief.
2. Easier To Move Around
Water is very buoyant and makes you feel lighter when you are in it. This allows mothers that are in labor to move around and make themselves comfortable much easier.
3. Helps To Reduce Tearing
When skin is put into water, it naturally becomes more stretchy and resilient. This is greatly beneficial for birth because it helps to reduce any tearing that may happen during child birth as well as ease the pain caused.
4. Increased Privacy
Going right along with the relaxing benefits enjoyed from water births, you are also given a much higher sense of privacy. Once you slip down into the water, you are covered, and can continue to labor undisturbed.
5. Often No Need For Drugs
Many women that are laboring in water, feel so comfortable and relaxed that they do not see the need for drugs to ease the pain of their labor.
6. Comfortable Transition For Baby
The baby is used to the warm and wet conditions that it has been living in for the past nine months while in the womb, and in normal births, can be placed under quite a bit of stress when they are born. The water simulates the same sensations and makes it a smoother transition for the baby.
7. Upright Advantage
It is much easier to position yourself in an upright position when you are in a birthing pool. This is because the laws of gravity work differently in water. Being upright allows a much easier birth because gravity does a lot of the work.
The Cons of Water Births
1. Many Reasons To Have To Get Out
There is a wide variety of things that simply cannot be done while you are in the water. If there is any sign of distress or problems with the baby, you will have to leave the pool to be further monitored. This disappoints many women who had their mind set on water birth.
2. Risk of Drowning
The largest concern that many people have about water births is the possibility that their baby could inhale water and drown when they are born. While this isn’t common, it can happen.
3. Possible Infections
It is not uncommon for a mother to release her bowels when she is giving birth, and is typically not much of an issue, however with water births it is. The bacteria that is in the bowels is put into the water, and exposed to the rest of the body.
4. Problems With The Umbilical Cord
Another common problem that can happen during water birth is the umbilical snapping when the baby is tugged out of the water. While this is not an emergency, it can lead to serious infections.
5. Lengthy Labor
If the body becomes over relaxed, it can very easily slow down the labor process. Many people may not even realize this is the hold up in their child’s birth until they have been in an excessive length of labor.
