Water births

[Sparklesandglitter]

Hi, after revisiting my birthing choices I am considering a water birth, or being in the pool for the earlier stages of labour.
Does anybody have any stories, positive and negative please! So I can get a better idea? The main thing that put me off initially is that I have heard bodily fluids/functions will float in the pool which is slightly off putting, i know people say that you don't care during labour but I think i will!!!
T.I.A.

This has definitely made my mind up. Water birth it is (if I can)! If I poo so be it. I'm sure embarrassment will be the last thing on our minds.

I love love loved my water birth!

I knew I wouldn't have time for pain relief, as DS1 had been quick and I wasn't having pethidine again, so chose the pool. Best decision ever.

I ga e birth in the pool and the best bit was that I could shift position effortlessly, even though DS was just about to crown. Not having to heave myself about was just amazing.

I loved my waterbirth (a home one with an inflatable pool).

Did absolutely bog all for the pain but the buoyancy and feeling of privacy were wonderful.

If you spend your time in an "all fours" position you can't see any poo and thus there is none

Think I'm going to give it a go thanks for all the advice

Wahoo!! Hope it all goes swimmingly (heeeeeeeee! )

Possibly a stupid question, but what if you pee in the pool? Obviously they can't fish that out - does it matter?

aliphip they will ask/suggest that you go for a wee before you get in the pool but tbh it doesnt matter, urine is sterile and it will be massively diluted in the pool anyway and they do keep topping the pool up with fresh water, they did mine anway :) and i was only in for 40mins before ds4 made his rather speedy appearance. the water def ended up a bit cloudy/murky but not dirty as such, just with leaking waters and a bit blood and then i delivered the placenta in the pool and the midwife fished it out!

Thanks, that's reassuring!

I'm thinking of giving water birth a go but is there a certain limit of the time you can spend in the water? It's my first pregnancy, and I heard that the first one usually takes much longer. What I don't want to happen is to be kicked out of the water while I'm still dilating because I've been in the water for too long. Also, does being in the water increase the risk of UTI because of e-coli floating around that can't be fishes out by midwives? (I have had UTI quite a few times during the pregnancy... )

Im currently 34 weeks pregnant with my 3rd child and definitely going to give the water birth a try this time! To be honest I dont really care if I poo in the pool! Im sure the midwives have seen an awful lot worse than a floater!! And Ill be too busy concentrating on the pain and meeting my babba to worry about if ive made a mess! They wouldnt offer pool births if they were bothered too much about cleaning up a bit of a mess! Ive heard all about the benefits of a pool birth and its definitely worth a try.. Just try it for a while and if youre still worrying about it while in there, you can always get out, its whatever youre comfortable with at the end of the day :) Good luck anyway :)