What can I expect with a water birth?
ByI am due in late January and we are planning on doing a water birth. I was just wondering what other things might be helpful to know form other moms who did water birth. What did you wish you’d known after everything was over?
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4 Comments
January 27th, 2010 at 5:06 pm
a dead baby
January 27th, 2010 at 5:39 pm
I can’t wait to hear about it, Ive always wondered… was it less painful and stuff?
January 27th, 2010 at 5:50 pm
Water births are very simple. The main things to focus on are obvious: make sure the water’s the right temp for you, pool the right size, atmosphere right, soft place to wait, etc – it’s all about you’re comfort.
The only things I personally wished I had thought about earlier was the afterparty: having blankets ready and a nice place for you to sit prepared outside the pool for when you’re done. Also, you may want to be able to take breaks, as being in water for long periods of time is not too fun.
And while you’re thinking about a waterbirth (which I recommend highly), also take a look at the Lotus birth info, as that can be wonderfull as well (despite the medical profession’s aversion).
January 27th, 2010 at 6:15 pm
With my first child, I had planned a home birth performed with a midwife and a doula in attendance. I was prepared with a large baby pool in case I wanted to birth or labor in water…. I had seen so many wonderful videos and heard so many stories talking about submersion in water aiding with labor pain.
Unfortunately for me, I actually felt more pain when I sat in the pool or the bathtub….go figure! Not to mention that we couldn’t keep the water warm enough so I kept getting cold. What worked really well for me was to sit on a birthing ball and let warm water hit my back from the shower because I had terrible back labor.
If you are strictly interested in birthing in water, you may want to consider finding a birthing center that has special large tubs for that purpose….they are probably more comfortable and can keep the water an even temperature. But no matter what, I would suggest that you consider preparing with other birthing aids because you will not be in the water more than 20 minutes per hour until you are ready to push. I had a birthing ball, a birthing stool, heating pad, etc.
btw, natural child birth is wonderful and I highly recommend it! Congratulations!