Water births

Would be keen to hear what peoples' thoughts/experiences are/have been with water births. Would you recommend them? What pain relief can you have with them? Has anyone had them in Tauranga?

i had one with DS2 and i absolutely loved it and plan on doing it again with this bub am hoping and prayng i can as the water makes you feel weightless which is GREAT inbetween contractions i had to get out of the bath to get placenta out but by then my son and i had a fair bit of skin to skin contact before he got taken weighed and dressed...

also if you go up to the top of page and search the forums for water birth topics i think you will find a few threads that you will find interesting

I had a water birth with DD#2, I hadnt planned it but it just kinda happened and found the experience quite interesting. It was slightly harder than my first (maybe because DD#2 was 9lb 6oz), although not nearly as uncomfortable as was I would have expected.

I tried going in the pool during contractions but i found I got too hot and the contractions ended up stopping all together.

I found it a little scary when the baby was coming out. The head had come out and I had to wait untill another contraction to push, and there were a good few minutes where I was worried that baby was stuck under water. I know the baby was fine but its still a little scary.
I also found after giving birth I didnt quite know where to put my self and found myself crouch trying to hold the baby above the water as they were filling it to keep it warm. I was sitting like that for nearly an hour and became soo uncomfortable (I think I had an unusually long time before the placenta came out)
Other than that it was really great, and it was quite nice not feeling as gross once it was all over. It was really relaxing and the baby seemed extreemly calm as well.

I tried for a water birth and found that as soon as I got into the water all of the pain went, it was bliss! I'm hoping to try again with a water VBAC next time

I didn't have any monitoring when I was in the pool (except for a couple of internal checks by the MW to see if I was progressing) and I was on the Gas too (equally as good as the water )

I'm thinking of having one this time.
Having baby under water sounds a bit worrying though, so I'll just see how I feel at the time. Now I know from last time that your birth plan can change depending on how you're feeling/how bubs is doing, so I'm open to change

I laboured a lot in the bath , personally i hated it, it made the contractions come every five seconds and i couldnt get comfortable.
In hindsight tho, it probably sped things up a lot for me , i went from being 5 cms dilated to 10 by the time we left for the hospital half an hour later ( i wanted to push in the car)

I would love waterbirth, but hte pool's you hire would never get into my house and I can't afford a blow up one and would prefere a homebirth then an water birth so that is what we are planning for.
ETA: we would not be able to fill a pool with our hotwater tank anyway we can barely fill a normal bath.

Edited by ButterflyMum

OOOOH me me i just had one, absulutely brilliant. I highly recommend!!!

I spent the first 2 hours in the water and dialated from 4 to 6 cm and then went in again about 3 hours later and it nearly stopped my contractions but it gave me a good rest and was really relaxing. I hadn't planned on giving birth in the water but my Mw heated the water up and said to just hop in if wanted. Was easy to be on knees in there aswell.

There was a gas thingy hooked up beside the bath i had to puffs and it was really yukky other than that i just had the water for pain relief.

It's alright that bubs head is under water becuase they still think they are in utero. it's when the come up to the surface that they get such a shock from the temp change that they start breathing. And when bubs comes out hes all clean. yay.  

Oh i don't know about Tauronga i have a friend who had her girl there in April. But they've just done it all up so they might have pools. Ummm Kimmies would know she just had her girl there but not in water.

I birthed at Waterford in Hamilton.

 

Edited by sarahbetha

some people i know don't like the water for pain relief and can't stand it. that's why you need to be prepared for all things i guess

I couldnt get comfy in the tub at the hospital and it felt cold. I so dont remember how i got out and onto the hospital bed (not allowed to birth in the tub down here just labour).

I would definately use the tub again tho i think it helped speed things along and put me in a better position where as otherwise i would have lay on the bed the whole time not knowing if i should stay there or move. Dunno if ill be allowed the tub next time as they arent sure there will be time and will break my waters early since my labour was so quick last time.