Did any of you end up with a waterbirth without having planned to use the pool?

[mears]

Am looking into this just now. Our unit is very pro offering the pool for pain relief in labour. A lot of women go into it without having considered it antenatally and go on to have a waterbirth.

Did that happen to any of you? Are you glad you did?

[BrummieOnTheRun]

I knew it was an option, but hadn't 'planned' for a waterbirth. As most units only have 1 pool, you can't set your heart on it, can you? It only became available at the last minute, but made an incredible difference! Sheer bliss and I ended up with a calm little waterbaby I would love to do it again.

[yellowrose]

i had the exact opposite experience, spent 8 hours labour in water, was losing contractions though so came out and gave birth on land as advised by my extremely experienced mw, i was gutted he wasn't born in the water.

as for pain relief, i didn't think i could just do it with gas and air squatting in warm water, but surprised myself that i was able to do it without proper medicalised pain relief.

i gave birth at the edgware birth centre, in north london. i love the place and the women who work there

[Notquitesotiredmum]

I had the opposite experience too. I desparately wanted a water birth and a lovely calm delivery. Got in and found I hated it even though I ordinarily love being in water! (To be fair, being in the waterpool had the opposite experience on me to most people and rocketed me into superlabour!) I'm glad I tried though. Managed to work out afterwards that if I feel unwell, I do not tend to go in the bath. I snuggle up in bed with a duvet and pillows. That's just me.

[hollyandalice]

I didn't even want a water birth, but I was in agony in the birthing unit with contractions 3 mins apart and the midwife offered it to me. I said yes ok I'll give it a go and it was the best decision I've ever made!! 3 hours later dd was born with only g&a. Brilliant! Well apart from the stitches!!

[mears]

bump for night time crowd

[yellowrose]

Oh, out of the 7 other women in my NCT ante natal group, I was the only one to use a birthing pool and the only one not to have serious tearing or any stiches.

I had read when preganant that a water birth reduces damage to one's bits, and now believe it does

[mears]

Morning

Thanks for the responses so far.

[snorkle]

Message withdrawn

[Flamesparrow]

Yup - I did with DD.

I didn't have any plan either way. They offered it, so I decided I'd get in for pain only - got in there and needed to push so just stayed there.

A wonderful birth and still soooo annoyed I didn't get my second waterbirth

[mamalocco]

Like yellowrose, went to Edgware birth centre and they are very pro water births, most rooms have pools. Didn't want a water birth, but midwife was so nice and had already run the water, didn't want to disappoint her. Not sure whether it helped with the pain but felt much more comfortable in between contractions as I could keep moving about with no effort.

[laloop]

Yes, I did despite not previously considering it at all. When I arrived at the maternity unit in labour with my third baby, the midwife suggested I give the birthing pool a try as she was very pro-waterbirth. I ended up staying in the pool for both the remainder of the labour and the birth. It was a much calmer, less intrusive experience than with my previous two 'dry land' deliveries. I was able to take control of the birth, could easily move around, change position in the pool and push when my body told me too. And I have the lovely memory of ds2 floating up to the surface of the pool into my arms as soon as he was born

[mears]

I too am a pro waterbirth midwife and am concerned that I could 'pressure' women to use the pool. I always reassure them though that they can come out if they do not like it. I have looked after many women who have been surprised how good it was. Your experiences are helpful to know. Thanks.

[Candyland]

Just wondering if anyone had GBS and then had a waterbirth - the charity, Group B Strep Support, is writing an article about this for a medical journal and is looking for real-life stories. I wondered if anyone was interested in helping. The pop-up on their website gbss.org.uk gives details of who to contact.

[DivaSkyChick]

Does anyone know if Chelsea Westminster is 'pro' water birth? I know they have two pools but recently a pregnant woman I met told me that her friend was denied a water birth by the MW on duty because "the MWs had determined it was hurting their backs."

Has anyone else heard of that?

[sorkycake]

GBS is a contraindication for w/b in my area, according to the guidelines which the trust has just issued my m/w. Does that make sense? No w/b if GBS. Don't know what it's like elsewhere.

[Dinosaur]

Pool wasn't available when I was in labour with DS1.

Because of complications with DS1 (nearly died when born) I wasn't allowed to use pool in subsequent labours.

[Candyland]

Just e-mailed Group B Strep Support - they don't see why carrying GBS during the pregnancy should mean you shouldn't be allowed a waterbirth. They said that carrying GBS means you should be informed about GBS and offered antibiotics intravenously every 4 hours from the start of labour, but that shouldn't preclude a water birth. They did say you should keep the cannula deliverying the antibiotics dry, but I can't see that should be so difficult.

Sorkycake does the guideline explain why GBS rules out a waterbirth for your trust?

[yellowrose]

gosh am i daft or what - but what is GBS ?

[Candyland]

Best to check out the Group B Strep Support website at www.gbss.org.uk - that'll be much more accurate than any paraphrase I can give!

[sorkycake]

No was just a long list of reasons where you couldn't have a water birth. Maybe they mean at home.

[yellowrose]

Thanks Candy just looked at it - oh I had never heard of it !

[Candyland]

Sorkycake, maybe they're just looking for reasons not to!

[BrummieOnTheRun]

our local hospital also denies waterbirth to GBS carriers. was very disappointed after a fabulous experience (different hospital) last time, hence the decision to do it at home if at all possible this time. IMO over-zealous policies like that push women away from hospital births, and it's totally unwarranted.

[cece]

For my first I wanted all pain relief going including epidural. Had not considered water as thought it wouldn't work. I was determined to have drugs. Ended up with spending about 5 hours in the pool but had to get out due to lack of trained staff for actual birth. But would have happily stayed in there. Managed with pol and G&A and TENS machine in the end.

For second wanted a water birth but because of PROM wasn't allowed in pool. Ended up with TENS, G&A and pethidine.

[Frizbe]

Yep happened to me, was supposed to be having dd2 homebirth, but after 3 lots of messed up blood results, iron below form, so hospital it was, spent two weeks eating everything iron related in hope of getting blood count back up! and getting off horrible tablets, got to hospital, was put into triage assement area, mw nearly died when she saw I was 5cm dilated, thought I was too calm for that! and sent me straight thru during the 6-7am shift change, so pool happily just become free so was offered it, jumped at chance and bloods came back just right to use it, got to 10cm dilated with hardly any pain in fact mw had to suggest I stop gabbing and start pushing as I was ready, dd2 born 13mins later with 3 puffs of gas n air highly recommend the whole experience, no rips or tears and one very chilled out dd2 from birth to this day.