Water Birth: Here's everything you need to know about the birthing option

Water births have been gaining a lot of popularity and even many celebs also going for this birthing option. Recently, we learned that Bollywood actress Kalki Koechlin too opted for the same. Speaking of it, most water births are done at home, but there some hospitals and birthing centers who also offer water birthing services. During a water birth, the pregnant woman will be submerged in the water in a tub and the person will deliver the baby in the water. One can just labour in water and deliver out of the water. 

Many people do the same so that they can reap the benefits of both hydrotherapy and the benefits of delivering in a hospital. If you want to know more details about water birthing then you are at the right place. Talking to Pinkvilla, Dr. Anagha Karkhanis, Senior Gynaecologist and Infertility Specialist and Director of Cocoon Fertility revealed its process, cost, and benefits among others.

Water Birth: All you need to know about it:
 
1. Do water births hurt less?

Most mothers plan to opt for water birth owing to the relaxation advantages that are offered by water. Although some females tend to refer to labouring and delivering in water as a ‘liquid epidural’ and consider the water birth experience to be very calm and tranquil, it is not always a pain-free affair for some. Choosing to deliver in water does not essentially take the pain totally out of the equation, but it can be more effectively managed or subdued. Depending on the female, the water may or may not lessen a majority of the discomfort of contractions. Many women who experience intense contractions when out of the tub, may feel a wave of respite and relief from the warm water. Additionally, the resilience of the water and the capability to move around and alter positions effortlessly also manages to help mothers to deliver easily. Being totally dipped in water tends to lower down your blood pressure and lets you feel more comfortable. This, in turn, facilitates the flow of oxytocin, which is responsible to bring on the contractions. Moreover, the contractions can also feel much abridged and less powerful in the warm, soothing water.

2. What are the benefits of water births?

Delivering a baby through the medium of water means that at least a part of your labour, delivery, or both will take place while you are submerged in a birth pool filled with warm water. This process of delivery typically takes place in a hospital or birthing center. Making use of the birthing pool during the primary stage of labour has a possibility to aid in properly managing pain by preventing the need of anaesthesia or an epidural during delivery and most importantly will help in speeding up your labour. The process may be less stressful for your baby as well. A warm bath might facilitate relaxing and will help you feel more in control. Floating in water will aid you in moving around more effortlessly than in the labour room. It has also been researched that water has a possibility to reduce the chances of grave vaginal tearing and will refine the flow of blood to the uterus. The water tends to lessen the anxiety-related hormones, allowing the mother’s body to generate endorphins which will serve as pain-inhibitors. Water essentially causes the perineum to become more flexible and relaxed, plummeting the occurrence and severity of tearing and the requirement for an episiotomy and stitches. As the woman who is in labour physically relaxes, she will be able to relax emotionally with an enhanced capability to focus more on the birth process. Most importantly the warm water tends to provide the baby with an environment alike to the amniotic sac.

3. What are the risks of water birth?

Although water delivery is one of the safest modes of giving birth to a baby, it has a couple of risks attached to it. In some cases, there might be a peril of water embolism, which might happen when water tends to enter the mother’s bloodstream. In case the baby is facing stress in the birth canal or if the umbilical cord tends to become twisted, the baby might gasp for air with the likelihood of gulping in water. This is a very rare possibility since the babies normally do not breathe in till the time they are exposed to air. They continue to get oxygen via the umbilical cord till the time they start breathing on their own or till the cord is cut. The final possible risk is that the umbilical cord may have a possibility to snap as the baby is brought to the water’s surface. This can be averted by using proper cautionary measures when elevating the baby up to the mother’s chest. In some occasional cases your baby might contract an infection, might run a very high or too low body temperature and might suffer from seizures or may face difficulty to breathe. 

4. Is there any special tub?

A birth pool is a particularly designed vessel encompassing warm water for expecting women to submerge themselves in for pain relief during on-going labour. Birth pools tend to work on a similar principle as a bathtub, but are dissimilar from them owing to the resilience, flexibility, and freedom of movement the factors which are considered to be significant in labour.
 
5. How much does a water birth cost?

Water births done in a hospital or birthing centre will usually cost the same as a baby being delivered vaginally if it’s covered by insurance. This will also include the cost of the birthing pool or tub. The price value of a water birth can differ on the basis of where you are planning to get it done and also whether your hospital or birthing centre has it as an option on offer. Healthcare and birthing centres that do have birthing pools might charge you a fee for making use of it, or they may not charge at all if they have the equipment on hand.

6. What is the process and how it works?

Water birthing is the procedure of giving birth to your baby in a tub or pool of warm water. Some females choose to labour in the water and opt to get out while delivering. Some mothers decide to stay in the water throughout the delivery process. The exact theory behind water birthing is that since the baby has already been in the amniotic fluid sac for nine months, birthing in an alike environment is milder for the baby and less traumatic for the mother too.

7. What happens when you go into labour?

The moment you go into labour you must call your healthcare practitioner, wait for your tub to fill up prior to getting in. Once you are inside the water pool, have your partner regulate the water as required so the temperature tends to remain between ninety-five and hundred degrees and not higher than hundred and one in which case your body temperature might increase, thus leading to a rise in the baby’s heart rate. Throughout the process of water birthing, your child healthcare practitioner will monitor your baby's condition by making use of an underwater Doppler device. When you are ready to push, your partner can be in the tub or pool along with you throughout the labour process to support you and can eventually step out of the water when you are all set to push to play catch with the baby. Once your baby arrives, your practitioner will place him erect on your chest for a mother-baby connection.