Water birth stories?

[minilemonade]

So far I've only really heard good ones and I'm considering going down this route if all goes to plan. If anyone's had one and wouldn't mind telling me about it I'd really appreciate it!

My fave birth out of my 3. I distinctly remember saying “I wish I’d done this before” as soon as I got the water

2 home water births here - not much more I can say that wasn't said above except this: with 2nd delivery I was encouraged to 'catch' my dc myself as he floated up between my legs. This was so magical/powerful - can't describe it properly but it was bloody amazing!

My DH would like to add: if you're having a home water birth, have a trial run first! Took AGES to get water in pool to right temp with DC1 - I barely made it in before she arrived. Still VG for pain relief though....

Had a home water birth planned which i still think would have been good... tested the pool and it was relaxing in my living room with the lights dim etc... however i ended up having to have my waters broken in hospital because of complications picked up on a scan.

When i went in i asked for the pool, which they said i could labour in and was available... I think i left it too long for myself though because i decided to walk about for a couple of hours first to try and speed the labour up as I was only 4cm... by the time id come back to the pool i was in far too much pain to want to get in it and was asking for an epidural lol... luckily it was in that same hour I had my baby. (so walking must have really really speeded things up!)

So my advice would be to get in it early on to see how it is for you. I think if id got straight in it at the beginning it may have helped me.

I had a waterbirth, wasn’t entirely planned but I knew I wanted to keep active for as long as possible and then try the pool. When we got to the hospital things were happening very quickly and it was quite scary - I was on gas and air and felt quite panicky as there wasn’t much of a gap between contractions. I got in the pool and felt much calmer and even gave up the gas and air. Pushing stage was quite slow relative to a fast first stage at just over an hour but she then arrived when she was ready. Some labial tearing but nothing major though the stitches were pretty eye watering. All in all was very empowering - would love to have a waterbirth again if I have another

Had back pain throughout day - in cinema and shopping. Was quite mild so thought nothing of it, carried on with day. Turns out i was in labour hadn’t realised until I got home and started to notice intensity of pain at intervals and realised might be contractions.

Phoned hospital, told I didn’t sound like I was in active labour. Advised to take a bath and eat. Phoned an hour later and asked to come in. They agreed.

Lucky we only live 5 minutes away as they examined me on arrival and said I was 9cm dilated! This was a week before due date. They asked me if I wanted to get in the pool to push and I said yes. While it was being filled (5/10 minutes?) I contracted leaned on the side of the bed.

45 minutes pushing in the pool and DD was born (9.4lbs!), using gas and air. It honestly felt like when you’re stomach contracts when you have bad diarrhoea. The pushing felt like I was having a really big poo after a bout of constipation. It wasn’t that bad for me but I did get a bit emotional and freaked out as I started to push (MW later told me this was “transitioning” impact and totally normal).

MWs looked after me throughout- they were amazing. I didn’t plan a waterbirth but glad I had one as it felt better than contracting over the bed. I don’t believe in planning for birth as it’s not something you have any control over- you just need to go with the flow and put your trust in the professionals. They will ask you what you want as you go along (eg changing position, pain relief).

Everyone I know who has planned a waterbirth didn’t end up having one. The most important thing is to be active up until birth, maximise oxytocin by doing fun/nice stuff, not fixating on signs of birth coming- ignore it as long as possible if you’re near to a hospital. Do anything to take your mind off it until the pain gets too much. These activities are more likely to result in a natural labour than a birth plan. If a natural birth is not meant to be, just be grateful for modern medicine and put your faith in the staff.

I know with my impending second pregnancy I’m not going to make any birth plan, but when I make that phone call, I’ll be insisting I’m coming in because second births are meant to be quicker and I don’t want to give birth in the hospital car park!!

Good luck xx

Just to add, I had no stitches despite having a big baby (9.4) no idea if this was due to the pool or not, or my body design.

I really wanted a water birth with my first, but after 16 hours of contractions when they'd finally let me go into the pool, I changed my mind & said I wanted drugs.

That made me more determined with my second. I laboured at home for 8 hours, went to the hospital after a midwife came & told me I was 4-5cm dilated, they ran the pool, I got in gave birth a couple of minutes later (so I have NO IDEA if the water helps with labour!)