Giving birth to babies underwater is becoming popular as a
Are you an expectant parent who is considering giving birth to your baby underwater? I urge you, please, think again! Perhaps delivering underwater may provide some pain relief for some mothers. So do narcotics and other drugs. But is partial pain relief worth the risks to mother and baby?
What are my credentials for offering you advice? I've been a midwife specializing in home births for more than twenty-four years. In that time I've never lost a baby during labour or birth, or lost a baby to a birth injury. And I have given birth to five children--4 at home, 1 in the hospital.
Here are five of the reasons why I believe, fervently, women should NOT give birth underwater.
Number One: In our society, we tend to overlook an obvious truth: NO MOTHER OR BABY HAS EVER DIED OR SUFFERED BRAIN DAMAGE FROM THE PAIN OF CHILDBIRTH. But mothers and babies have been damaged and killed by analgesic drugs--including those touted as being "perfectly safe for mother & baby." And there is a real physical potential for babies and mothers to be injured and killed by this so-called "natural" method of pain relief (more on this later.)
Number Two: UNDERWATER DELIVERY IS ABSOLUTELY UNNATURAL. A basic inherent part of the normal birth process is the baby's slipping out of the mother's body directly into the air and taking that vital first breath. Delivering underwater--deliberately delaying the natural transition of birth--is found nowhere in human history or prehistorical traditions. There's nothing natural about it.
Even in the animal world, every air-breathing creature gives birth or lays eggs on land whenever possible. Even sea turtles and seals, who live happily in the sea, take great pains to deliver their young safely on land. The few air-breathing creatures who can't, such as whales & dolphins, compensate by giving birth to their babies tail-first to minimize the risk of drowning. A few years ago a Beluga whale at the Vancouver Aquarium (Vancouver B.C.) died during delivery because it was born (abnormally, for a whale) head first.
Human babies born underwater face unnatural health risks no baby should have to face. And their mothers face unnecessary risks, too.
Number Three: Underwater advocates often argue that drowning isn't a risk because "babies don't breathe at the moment of birth" or "babies don't breathe in until they are exposed to the air. BOTH ARGUMENTS ARE SIMPLY UNTRUE. Babies often breathe when they are half-in, half-out and waiting for a final push to deliver them into the world. Babies sometimes breathe the moment their head delivers. I once caught a baby who poked his head out of his mama, promptly breathed in, then sneezed loudly. Fortunately he had good clean air available.
When a baby needs oxygen, s/he will breathe in reflexively, whether or not air is available. Some babies even breathe before birth, inhaling amniotic fluid and their own fecal matter (meconium). This is life-threatening and usually can't be prevented. But once a baby delivers, it's both commonsense and kindness to make air available immediately!
Number Four: UNDERWATER, POTENTIALLY INFECTIOUS MATTER CAN EASILY FLOAT INTO VULNERABLE AREAS. In a natural birth, the uterus and birth canal are flushed out by amniotic fluid, the passage of the baby and finally the placenta. Any foreign material is naturally washed away from the body.
For example,(no one wants to talk about this outloud, but it's true,) when a woman pushes out her baby, it is more common than not that she will also push out a bit of fecal matter. Sometimes more than a bit. Even if she's in one of those retro-hospitals where pre-delivery enemas are still common, she's likely to push out the last of the enema--which is especially messy.
In a normal delivery this really is no big deal when one delivers with a competent midwife or doctor. Any fecal matter is easily wiped away before the baby delivers, and usually no one in the room even notices.
Underwater, though, bacteria-laden material (such as maternal feces) can float freely into vulnerable areas--mother's vagina, lacerations, baby's eyes. This won't cause infection in every case, but it certainly poses a risk that can easily be avoided by simply delivering in the air. Poop doesn't float on air.
Number Five: WATER MAY MASK ESSENTIAL SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS. Evaluating the color, amount and odor of amniotic fluid gives midwives, nurses and doctors vital information about an unborn baby's well-being and about what on-going healthcare is appropriate for that mother and baby. Evaluating amniotic fluid is easy when it drips onto a towel or underpad. You can smell the slightest odor of infection and see the smallest trace of meconium or blood. These can easily go undetected underwater.
Also it's vital to keep track of maternal blood loss, and there's simply no way to do this accurately when the blood is diluted in a pool full of water (and people).
Underwater birth may relieve some of the pain, but ask yourself, in light of the health considerations, is it worth it?
Please, think twice and again before about choosing to force your baby to go undergo an unnecessary obstacle at birth--an artificial and potentially dangerous water hazard.
