I came close to having a water birth with DS#2, but I had a stubborn anterior lip of cervix that wouldn't move in the water. My mw had me switch to the bed and it moved right away so that is where I delivered. The water is awesome. At my BC they said that about 1/3 of women who plan on a water birth end up with one. Sometimes it is a medical reason (like mine) or sometimes it is because a mom doesn't want to be in the water, or move to the water when the time comes.
The new season of Baby Story has had a lot of home/birth center births, most in the water...
I had a planned homebirth in 2005 and rented a tub to have water available for labor and birth. Before going into labor, I thought I wanted a waterbirth- just really liked the idea of it all. Labor started around 11pm on a Saturday, the tub rental folks came right out and set it all up within an hour even though I was 2 weeks "early", they were really fantastic! I had a very easy, fast, and pain-free labor, and got into the tub at 6cm. The water felt great, super relaxing. Once in the water, I dilated to 10cm in about 20 minutes, and never felt transition at all. I have no idea if this is because I was so thoroughly relaxed in the water, just the way my body worked, or a combination of both.
After 20 minutes in the tub, my body started pushing, it was completely involuntary. I started to feel too hot in the tub, and wanted to get out so my midwife could check me and make sure it was okay to go with the pushes. In the moment, the water just wasn't where I wanted to be for pushing. I was fully dilated, and pushed on my bed where DD was born.
Even though I only spent 20 minutes in the tub, it was fantastic and we'll be renting from the same people again for our upcoming homebirth in March. Again, I'd like to give birth in the water, but I also know now that my body does things entirely instinctively during labor, so in the moment it will know where the right place is to be.
We were planning a home waterbirth. Got the home part, but not the water part! In the end, DD was not in a very good position to be born in the water. She had her cord wrapped around her neck and body and presented with her hands up. It took some manipulation to get her out and being in the water would've made that a bit more difficult. As it turns out, anyway, I threw up at the sight of my mucous plug, so I don't think I'd have handled being in the water with everything that came out of me, anyhow.
The water was ok for labor...it dulled my pain a little, but it wasn't what I was expecting. I think it would've been better if it had been warmer. It was 105 degrees, but I take baths hotter than that...
We were planning a home waterbirth. Got the home part, but not the water part! In the end, DD was not in a very good position to be born in the water. She had her cord wrapped around her neck and body and presented with her hands up. It took some manipulation to get her out and being in the water would've made that a bit more difficult. As it turns out, anyway, I threw up at the sight of my mucous plug, so I don't think I'd have handled being in the water with everything that came out of me, anyhow.
The water was ok for labor...it dulled my pain a little, but it wasn't what I was expecting. I think it would've been better if it had been warmer. It was 105 degrees, but I take baths hotter than that...
Woohoo!! Congrats Iml!! I was hoping you would have her this weekend!!
Water Births, please share your experiences.
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Originally Posted by lml41981
