Things to Know about Natural Water Birth at Home

Parenthood is a very big responsibility and often first time parents are hardly prepared for the same. The would-be mother and new mothers need to take care of themselves during pregnancy and the first few months afterwards. If it is your first baby, you may not be fully prepared about the complexities of child birth or about even which method shall be best adopted. C-section and normal delivery in hospitals are the commonest ways of delivery. But many ladies would like to take recourse to even more natural and gentler way of giving birth. Natural Water birth at home is an art of natural birth via empowered, informed and consensual collaboration.

But before zeroing upon the best way of delivery, it is necessary to understand water birth and its benefits and precautions. Water birth process involves at least part of your labor, delivery, or both happen while you’re in a birth pool filled with warm water. Water Birth facility can happen in a hospital, a birthing center, or even at home in a jacuzzi. Either a doctor, trained nurse or midwife can assist in the process. The birth pool during the first stage of pregnancy helps in

• ease pain
• Keep you from needing anesthesia
• Speed up your labor. The first stage is from when contractions start until when the cervix is fully dilated. Being immersed in warm water can help reduce labor pain by relaxing muscles and improving circulation. However, it must be noted here that, The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), which sets guidelines for pregnancy and childbirth care in the U.S., says a water birth during the first stage of labor may have some benefits but delivering your baby underwater should be considered an experimental procedure with risks.

Benefits of water birth include:

• Comfort and mobility — buoyancy helps mom feel lighter, and makes it easier for her to change positions
• Reduces stress and promotes relaxation
• Reduces blood pressure
• Helps relax the pelvic floor
• Reduces cesarean-section rates
• Reduces the need for drugs and interventions
• May lead to shorter labor
• Reduces the distraction of outside stimuli

There are professional midwifery care services in Napa Valley that is trained to help would-be mothers into gentler delivery without c-section. They trust in the woman’s body innate ability to have a natural and gentle birth. Women’s bodies are tremendously powerful, complex and wise. These services take care of both health and wellness of mother and the infant baby throughout the pregnancy, birth and postpartum experience.

Author’s Bio: The author is an experienced midwife practising in the Napa valley aiding in safe and healthy births. In this article, she shares information about natural water birth at home.