Question about waterbirth?

[rimsky]

Hi!

I'm 36wk pregnant and am planning a home waterbirth. But there is one thing niggling me...

In a birth "on land" the midwife will check using her finger that the cord is not wrapped around the baby's neck before they are fully born. I have been told in a water birth that it is very much "hands off" as if you touch the baby it can set off a "dive" reflex where the baby starts to breathe before they are out of the water.

Is this true about the dive reflex? And if so, how can it be checked if the cord is around the baby's neck until it has been born? Any help would be appreciated as it is making worry about the water birth and it is something I'd like to feel calm about!

I don't have an answer for you but I've been thinking the same thing (am 36 + 4 weeks and also considering waterbirth) so am watching this thread with interest.

Some interesting info about mothers and midwives touching the baby during a waterbirth here.

Don't know about the cord question though, will watch the thread too. My second stage was quite quick with my first waterbirth, and the midwife just observed with a mirror IIRC.

I touched my baby's head while she crowned during a water birth. as her face emerged, dh touched her gently too. telling me when her eyes, ears, nose mouth and chin had emerged. I can only imagine he caressed them. I didn't try to catch her I just let her slide into the water and then picked her up. She was above water for about 20 secs before she took her first breath. We had no midwife in attendance at the time and everything we did was instinctive.

I think that if a birth is progressing smoothly there is no reason to touch the baby. You can include a mirror and a strong torch in your water birth pack to have your baby's neck looked at rather than touched I suppose.

If a cord is wrapped tightly around a baby's neck, it will show signs of distress earlier than at this point. Most cords around the neck thankfully is easily resolved and by supporting a mother into standing in the pool can make it easily resolved in most cases, I imagine. Most cords are also long enough to allow a baby to breastfeed without it being cut so another reason to show that cords around necks are not usually a problem.

Alternatively you can opt for moving onto when it is time to deliver. I didn't push at all. My labour was fast and my dd was out in 3 contractions after descent started.

There is a book called Waterbirth by Janet Balaskas which I read while pg.

the dive reflex is what stops a baby breathing underwater. I thought that, provided the baby remains submerged, it won't take a breath. that was the impression I got from my MW anyway - she pushed my back down to ensure DD would be fully submerged when she was born. i don't remember any touching though.

Don't worry about the cord being around the neck - it sounds scary, but is normal for a lot of births. DD2 had the cord wrapped twice around her neck; and ds had it once around his neck. Both were water births (at home), and both absolutely fine.

The problem is when the cord is wrapped tightly around the neck - and this is rare - and if the baby is in distress, then the doppler will pick this up in their heart beat. Doppler measurements of the heart beat should be done between every contraction (in the later stages) and can be done under water, and I consider this vital to a safe birth.

The water should be a specific temperature - if too cold, then that may cause the baby to try and breathe (I have never heard of that happening btw!) - we did check the temperature with a thermometer.

Like belgo's dc, my dd was born in water with the cord loosely round her neck.
The midwife just unhooked it between contractions (ie after the head was born but before the body emerged) and everything was fine.

Many many midwives do not routinely check for a cord round the neck. The pros and cons for this have and continue to be a subject of hot debate for midwives and I won't go into it here. Anyway, no midwife will check for cord at a waterbirth. If the cord is loose the shoulders will be born through - if the cord is too tight for the shoulders to come through and too short for the baby to come anyway (very very very rare - never seen this in eight years of delivering babies) then that would become obvious with the next contraction. The midwife would get you out of pool and onto sofa and then deal with it. Please don't worry about this - cord around neck is a non issue really. Occasionally it can cause a problem but one third of babies are born with their cord around the neck and for the vast vast vast majority of babies there is no issue at all. In fact, cord around neck is so common that it is just a variation of normal, not abnormal or worrying in any way.

I agree HardertoKidnap- It was such a non-issue at my births that the midwives barely commented on it, they just dealt with it. But it is something that terrifies mums-to-be.