Gynecology and Obstetrics
Water Birth
A variety of birthing options are available today. Depending on your preference and the health of you and your baby, you may choose to deliver in the hospital, at a birthing center, or at home. Beyond location, more and more women are choosing water births as the way their babies enter the world.
A water birth means at least part of your labor, delivery, or both happen while you’re in a birth pool filled with warm water. It can take place in a hospital, a birthing center, or at home.
Warm water is soothing, comforting, relaxing.
In the later stages of labor, the water has been shown to increase the woman’s energy. The water seems to reduce stress-related hormones, allowing the mother’s body to produce endorphins which serve as pain-inhibitors. Women who birth in water also report higher birth satisfaction.
Water births may not be recommended for women who are in preterm labor or who have had two or moreTrusted Source previous cesarean section.
