water birth vs. typical hospital birth?
Byi’ve been thinking a lot about a water birth for the last few months. for the majority of my pregnancy (8 months pregnant currently), i’ve just asssumed i was going to have a “typical” hospital birth with an epidural or some sort of pain meds. i’ve been going to prenatal classes for a few weeks now, but i’ve been considering inquiring the doctor/hospital about a water birth and if they offer it where i plan on delivering at. the reason i have been considering, is because i feel much more relaxed in water and i could see it being a realistic type of birth for me. i guess i was wondering if any of you have any comments about a water birth vs. a typical birth, — pros, cons; good experiences, bad experiences. although i know a water birth is intended for those who want more of a “natural” birth free of meds, is it still possible to have some pain relief with medication and have a water birth? if so, what kinds of pain meds?
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5 Comments
May 9th, 2010 at 9:36 am
Once you get an epidural, they give you an i.v., that means a mandatory “stuck in the bed” labor.
The purpose of laboring in water is to avoid the pain meds. It is very relaxing & I suggest a doula in addition to your signifigant other that is supporting you.
The benefits are well worth it & you are much more likely to have the birth you want.
May 9th, 2010 at 10:31 am
a water birth is less painful. but your going to need to go to the hospital after in case your thing rips
May 9th, 2010 at 10:49 am
i am not sure if you can have pain meds while in the water with my first i thought a water birth would be great but it wasn’t my cup o tea i did it naturally and found sitting still made everything hurt way worse and i just needed to move i walked through the whole thing till the very end with my second i went in knowing what to expect and did the same walked the whole time it was my way of dealing with the pain
just to let you know i find labour goes much easier if you do it naturally 80 % of people tear (ouch i hear it is sensitive forever the nurse told me) out of all the people i know 100 % tore or got cut that had an epidural plus you will have to have a cathader and an IV blah and you’ll be a bit out of it and just to let you know the contractions are the worst part once you get to the stage where pushing begins you don’t even pay attention to the pain and it over very quickly … i just thought i would mention that since with my first i thought that the contractions were only the start and was very nervous that it was going to be much more painful and i wouldn;t be able to handle it
May 9th, 2010 at 11:06 am
I have had 4 “hospital/epidural/pitocin” births and then I had a water birth.
I will NEVER ever go back to the typical birth! I did chicken out at the end of my water birth and I was given some stadol (sp?) for pain. I was still able to labor and deliver in the water. I had a “heplock” which allowed the birth center IV access, without me being hooked up to a constant IV. I was fine to go into the water with it. I tested positive for strep B, so I had to have an IV line for antibiotics.
I hope that you do decide to go with a more natural water birth. I have been able to compare one with the other and I can reassure you that the non medicated birth was way better than any of the others.
May 9th, 2010 at 11:23 am
You can have the water birth at the hospital with all the pain medications you need =]