VBAC Water Birth

[Eeeekidontknow]

Hi all,

Baby is due next month and I’m hoping for VBAC. There is a birthing pool on the labour ward and I asked my consultant whether I would be able to use this, and she confirmed I would. This was a major factor in me deciding to go for a VBAC.

I met my consultant again this week and when I mentioned the pool, she told me that I probably wouldn’t be able to actually give birth in the water and that they’d want me out of the pool before the pushing stage started. She said it was because that’s the point at which pressure on the scar is greatest so they want to be able to monitor best they can. (I know they have wireless monitors for that pool as I used it in my last labour so I don’t really know why I’d need to get out - presumably for additional monitoring?)

My question is, is this normal practice? I don’t know why she didn’t mention it before. She just seemed slightly vague about it so I’m hoping that I might actually be able to stay in the pool!

I do also know that ultimately it’s my decision and I can decline monitoring but I’m nervous about something going wrong, especially after my last birth ending in a c section.

I’d love to hear your experiences!

Thank you!

No not normal practice. Stand your ground say you want wireless monitoring or you'll consider a water birth at home ( they won't want you to do this so should accommodate)

It's more that the CTG could have features that are acceptable if delivery is 10mins away but not if it's an hour away and you can't assess that in the pool. It's a good idea to be prepared for the possibility that the midwife might ask you to exit the pool for closer monitoring of progress in the pushing stage. It can also sometimes become very difficult to monitor baby during pushing in any labour and a clip on their head might be recommended.

I was told no for a vbac in water. Although I was being induced as well so that could have been another reason. I was allowed to have a nice long bath before the induction started and I went from 0-2cm in an hour. Then I had to get out and go on the drip and it took 4 hours on that to go from 2-4cm. Then baby went into distress so I had to have another c-section. I've often wondered if he would have been born a lot quicker and not gone into distress if I had just stayed in the bath.

I would go along with whatever is safest for the baby and for me.

It's hard to know what the safest option is though. A lot of the time you are trying to weigh up a number of different options with different risks and you have to decide which risk is preferable.

I'm in the same situation. I'm hoping to go for a VBAC. I also want a water birth. My consultant has said they can monitor the baby fine in the water but they'd want a drip in in case I have to go for an emergency section. She said I can't have the drip in while in the pool. But she did leave it open saying we'll see how things progress and I can try for a water birth

Find out the reasoning and see - but just to say, I laboured in a birth pool with DCs 1 and 3 and both times got out for the actual birth and was quite pissed off about having to do so, but it was honestly fine and I would say absolutely worth it anyway.

If you can get into the zen space, stay out as long as possible but just where you're getting to the point that the zen is not enough, the water really really helps with this, instantly melts it all away, takes all the pain down about three notches and it just made literal hours melt away where I was not stressed and had no sense of time passing but still dilating and having contractions. I'm sure the bouyancy of the water somehow helps the baby get into position as well. Brilliant stuff and would defo recommend. DC1 was in the UK and I just had dopplers, DC3 was in Germany and I think I had wireless/waterproof monitors? I can't remember but they are obsessed with monitoring and drove me mad with it.

My main wish for being in water was to avoid tearing and for the water to offer some relief. I did tear a bit with DC1 but not with the other two, and actually, I think it was really fine to be on "dry land" for the actual birth to have more hands on input from the midwives. I also think it would have been really difficult to get out of the pool after giving birth! Though that is a minor point, I suppose.