Am I too fat for a water birth?

[holly343434]

Hello :) my bmi is 34 and I am a size 16, am I too big for a water birth? I have seen on some posts some ladies were not allowed? I'd love one but now scared to ask

I think women can't always use midwife birth units with pools, but you should be able to use a birthing pool on the labour ward if one is available when you go in.

Please do let your midwife know you would like this and don't be scared. You need to learn to advocate for yourself to get what you want and need, as the labour and postnatal wards can be busy: try to be assertive, it will really pay off!

I hope you get a water birth, I always wanted one too!

I’m a high BMI Mum (size 20 bottom) and to DS. With DS I had a text book pregnancy (high BMI, consultant led till 36 weeks where I was signed to midwife led care but no other issues). They were happy for me to birth in the pool in the midwife led unit, unfortunately it didn’t work out (DS was trying to come out sideways!) but I wasn’t ‘too big’ for the pool and I was/am bigger than you.
I am planning a water birth this time too! I’m hoping this DC will play ball!
As far as I know (and I’m not an expert) as long as it’s text book, spontaneous labour, no diabetes etc, you should be able to birth in the pool, even with a high BMI.

Oh and as PP said, never be afraid to ask, your midwife is your advocate in labour, they will want to help you to have the best labour you can! Good luck!

Unless your weight has caused issues like high blood pressure that mean you have to be consultant lead I can't see why not?

My BMI is 31 and I was initially told that I couldn’t have a water birth because it was over 30. After double checking with the hospital and the MLU their cut off is 35 xx

I don’t understand how BMI is the measurement they use to say if you can or can’t instead of weight. I’m 5ft 8 and have always been heavy even though BMI is healthy but I will weigh a lot more than someone who is 5ft 1 but with a BMI over 30... if they are worried about getting you out of the bath if you fainted ... surely weight is the deciding factor not BMI???

@le42 I totally agree, I said the same thing to the midwife and she agreed to. It should be a maximum weight, I’m 5ft 2 so always been ‘overweight’ even when super fit!

My bmi was 32 when i booked my pregnancy, had a water birth no problem

Ask your midwife. At my hospital you can use the birth centre (and pools) of you are low risk - for BMI this was under 35 but the consultants also allowed people over 35 if in otherwise good heath- they just had to sign it off.

Worth knowing though that as far as I know in most hospitals only about 1/5 of deliveries take place in the midwife led centres and I think it's often harder to access the pool on delivery suites. I had no idea this was the case and was disappointed I couldn't use the pool - I'd banked on it as all rooms in our birth centre have a pool but i developed complications at 37 weeks and had to be induced on delivery suite meaning no pool for me!

Good luck, I hope you get to be in the water.

Pretty sure our local policy is under 35 for MLU but we do have a pool on main delivery suite that can be used by women with higher BMIs for labouring. We just prefer them to deliver on land so that we wouldn’t have to try to lift them out if there was a shoulder dystocia or similar issue.

There shouldn’t be any strict rules as such. It’s about having a discussion with your midwives about what is safe and practical. No woman should just be told ‘no’ flat out. It’s about making informed decisions.