Birth Delivery

Water Birth Risks

admin — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 13:14:38 +0000

After much research I have found very few documented risks involving water birth. I find this rather strange as many hospitals do not have facilities for water birth and doctors and gynecologists don’t seem to even mention it unless the mother to be specifically inquires about it. At this point the medical professions standard answer seems to be that “better evidence that water births are safe is needed before the method is offered as a matter of routine“.

I managed to find four incidents where new born babies nearly drowned, all four of these babies recovered 100% and had absolutely no side effects. If the baby is not getting enough oxygen during birth it is possible but highly unlikely that they may gasp for air. This would of cause allow water to enter their lungs. Supporters of the water birth technique say primitive reflexes keep babies from taking a breath until they are removed from the water.This does make sense as babies live in liquid until they are born so they would naturally only take a breath once they are exposed to air.

Below are some guidelines published in the journal of Pediatrics.

Careful control of the water temperature
Keep the pool clean
Avoid prolonged immersion
Consider using isotonic water
Consider leaving the pool for the final stage
Have an agreed protocol for dealing with unexpected complications

Another potential risk is that the mother could get water in her bloodstream from excessive bleeding, I couldn’t find any documented cases of this happening.

Other situations that could possibly do harm to the child:

if the mother is infected with herpes
the mother tends to be inflexible
the mother has excessive bleeding or some kind of infection
the baby is pre-term (which is born about two weeks prior to the scheduled date) water birth is often not recommended.

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New Active Birth Book

Alexander — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 10:12:09 +0000

My wife and I have three healthy children and all of them were active births in the comfort of our own home. We would not have had the knowledge and assurance to do this without this wonderfull book.

Below is a brief description of Janet Balaskas’s New Active Birth.

“New Active Birth” is a must have book to help you and your partner prepare for and experience an Active Birth.

Throughout time and the world over, women have chosen to walk, stand, squat, lie – to move their bodies freely and actively to find the most comfortable positions for labour and birth. It is only we in the west who have the extraordinary notion that a woman should lie on her back in a position that defies the laws of nature and gravity.

With this book, you can learn to develop all your body’s resources to deal with the instinctive experience of natural childbirth. It is also for partners, teachers, midwives and everyone involved, to help mothers get up off the birth delivery table and to bring back some of the common sense which has been overlooked by modern obstetrics.

“New Active Birth” is the new and revised edition of Janet Balaskas’ pioneering and acclaimed “Active Birth” covering over 180 clear black and white photographs and line drawings throughout. Fully updated and extended with new information – includes sections on Water Birth and Recovery After Birth. It offers revised and expanded prenatal and postnatal exercises with step by step photographs. It presents a detailed up-to-the minute section covering every aspect of Active Birth at home and in hospital and the Active Birth Movement.

Janet Balaskas is the founder of the Active Birth Movement. The mother of four children, she trained with the National Childbirth Trust and is a counsellor for childbirth.

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Benefits of Water Birth

admin — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 22:05:44 +0000

We begin our lives surrounded by liquid in the womb and this comfort stays with us through our lives. Most of us will find water to be of great comfort and repose. Humans are comprised primarily of water, a three day old fetus is 97 percent water and an eight month old fetus is 81 percent water. The adult body is fifty to seventy percent water. Most human babies, given the chance, can swim before they can sit or crawl.

Water has been used for thousands of years to ease labour and facilitate birth. Warm water reduces sensory stimulation and the pull of gravity so when a woman in labour is relaxing in a tub she is less likely to secrete stress-related hormones such as Noradrenaline and catecholamines which will raise her blood pressure and inhibit labour. Warm water will allow her body to produce “endorphins” which will compliment labour.

Buoyancy promotes better blood circulation and more efficient uterine contractions. More oxygen can get to the uterine muscles resulting in less pain for the mother and more oxygen for the baby.

Why doesn’t the baby drown?

This is a question that many women ask and has the most obvious answer. Your baby has been living in water for nine months inside your womb. The baby is receiving oxygen through the umbilical cord and its lungs remain collapsed until it is brought to the surface of the water. This does not mean the baby can remain under water indefinitely after birth; the medical norm would be to bring the baby to the surface within ten seconds of being born. There are however several cases of babies being left under water for several moments after birth without any problems at all.

The calming effects of water are truly miraculous and it is quite possibly the best medium for giving birth there is.

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Active Birth Positions

admin — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 14:33:35 +0000

There is nothing new about active birth delivery; it is something women have naturally done since the beginning of time. The notion of having to lie down on your back during labour is a relatively new principle and simply makes it easier for the birth attendant to manage the procedure.

It has only been for the last 300 years that woman have been disempowered during labour, the invention of the forceps in the 17th century was the beginning of this unnatural act that woman are forced to go through. Child birth is a natural process that most women will instinctively know how to handle.

The anatomy of the women’s pelvis is ideally designed for labour and birth in the upright position. In many cultures woman labour and give birth in standing, kneeling or squatting positions. In active birth the mother is in control of her body, the first resort is the mother’s instinctual and natural resources and the last resort is medical intervention. The mother must be allowed to move around, change positions between contractions and be as comfortable as possible.

By choosing to have an active birth you are giving your baby the best possible start in life. You are also reclaiming your fundamental right as a mother to provide a natural and healthy drug free transition from the womb to the world.

Active birth is an attitude of mind that involves acceptance and trust in the natural function of the birth process. With the appropriate positioning of the body delivery is safer and more efficient. It is not meant to merely be a vaginal extraction, controlled by the attendants. It is a natural physiological unfolding of the birth process.

Unusual complications can arise and should this happen there is modern obstetric care to fall back on, intervention at this point will at least be a choice made not forced and the birthing experience can still be a positive one.