water birth and less 'advice'

[Deliaskis]

Hi there,

35 wks tomorrow and seriously starting to think about options for birth. At our hospital it is highly likely that I will be able to get a pool room if I want one, and the mw who did our AN classes was very supportive of that. So I would like to try the pool when I go in and see how I get on (although not ruling anything in or out).

However, she did mention that if you're in the pool, obviously they can listen with the doppler, and I can have gas & air, but that they really do very little else. Specifically she said they wouldn't be able to 'see' as much so would be less able to advise on e.g. when to push/pant, etc. which she discussed a lot when talking about avoiding tearing. She did say they would still ask us to get out if we needed to be examined if they had any reason to think things weren't going the way they should, but seemed to suggest that apart from that, we would just kind of get on with it. Obviously she would be in the room, but not necessarily actually doing anything IYSWIM.

Does anyone have any insight into this? Obviously I can ask at my next mw apt and will do, but has anyone given birth in water and felt unsure as to what to do when? I know that sounds stupid but this is my first and I am not assuming that I will know exactly what is going on at all times.

Is there something to do with giving birth in water that means labouring mothers are more likely to be able to take it in their stride and know what feels right?

Has anyone ever given birth in water and felt like they haven't had the support/advice they needed at the right tim?

I'm not totally fixed on the idea of a waterbirth, but am quite keen to give it a go, just a bit worried about being unsure of when things are happening etc.

D

Your body ABSOLUTELY knows what to do, it will guide you when to change positions, when to walk and when to rest (before you get in to the water obviously) and if you trust it, and try to relax and open up, rather than fight against your body it will do it very effectively in 98% of cases.

I like this whole idea. My mum has had 5 and she is very inspiring. As is one of the local midwifes, who ran our Parentcraft classes. We were saying yesterday that all of the women in pain are the ones who tense up and lie on their backs screwed up screaming! I think as soon as you 'loose it' you've 'lost it', if you know what i mean. Strong mind and all that.

One of my friends (and my birthing partner) said she had a huge decorating project at her mums around her due date. She finally finished it and the next day (10 hours later) she went into labour :)

Your body definitely knows. Mother nature is amazing!

Thanks for more responses ladies, all really interesting and good food for thought. I'm going to try and see if I can have a water birth, but accept that it might not be possible if things conspire against me.

Ta again for sharing your experiences.

D

I had a waterbirth in September and it was great. Would definitely recommend it.

When you get to the pushing stage I think they are supposed to check the baby's heartbeat after every contraction (that's what my MW did - leaning in with a doppler) so that if the baby ever seems to be in any distress they can act accordingly right away.

My MW knew when I got to the pushing stage and told me when to start pushing. It probably helped though that up until the 'transition' I'd been quite quiet but had a very noisy transition so she knew exactly when that started! (I found it helped me to groan loudly during the contractions then).

However, somehow (?) she knew when the transition was over and when to start pushing. At this point she told me to shut up (wasting too much energy on making noises!) and concentrate on pushing each time I had a contraction.

Some time later... DD arrived!

I had a small tear which they said they could have possibly left to heal on its own but said it would be neater if they stitched it up so I had a few stitches but nothing major and no particular pain afterwards.

Not had a waterbirth, but 2 things came to mind when reading this. Firstly there is a school of birthing thought that says there's no need to push, with an upright position and the contractions the heavy pushing is unnecessary. Some people disagree with this, but I've spoken to a good few women who will attest to having delivered without pushing at all, water seems to encourage these calm "breathe the baby out" births. Secondly, of the mothers that did push, some report a sudden overwhelming urge to push, which they could not resist at all. So that's opposite ends of the spectrum, both working out fine.

Not had a water birth but with my first i had that overwhelming urge to push, no idea where it came from just remember shouting it to my husband who went and got midwife, DS born shortly afterwards.

Your body does seem to know what to do. I wish I had listened to it a bit more, I really wanted to be on all fours but my midwife kept suggesting different positions and i didn't press the issue.

Good luck