Water Birth Delivery: Is It Right for You?

This is a type of vaginal birth in which the pregnant woman is made to sit in a birthing pool or tub of water. Water birth is not a new way of giving birth to a child but an ancient practice which has been followed for centuries among the people of Egypt, Greece, Hawaii. In this method of giving birth to a child, labor pain and many other difficulties are naturally reduced.

According to a study published in the Obstetrics and Gynecology Journal, putting a pregnant woman in water during delivery or labor gives her some relief from pain, there is also less use of painkillers or epidural, labor time is reduced and the satisfaction of the patient (here pregnant woman) also increases. According to this study, this is the main reason due to which water birth has now become very popular in America. In India too, water birth services are provided in many hospitals so that the safety of the patient can be ensured.

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The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), which sets guidelines for pregnancy and childbirth care in the US, says that water birth may have some benefits during the first stage of labor, but in the second stage of labor, delivering your baby in water should be considered an experimental procedure with risks. The first stage of labor is when the pregnant woman starts having contractions but her cervix is ​​not fully dilated.

According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), putting a pregnant woman in water in the first stage of labor can reduce the duration of labor. (The first stage of labour is usually the longest and for first-time mothers, it can be anywhere from 12 to 19 hours. For women who have given birth before, it can be 12-14 hours.) In addition to reducing the duration of labour, having the first stage of labour in water can also reduce the need for an epidural or other spinal painkillers.

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A small study found that women who labour in water also had a reduced caesarean section rate (13.2 percent vs 32.9 per cent). Not only this, women who had water births experienced less stress 42 days after delivery than women who delivered outside of water – 6.1 per cent vs 25.5 percent, respectively. More large-scale studies are needed to confirm these findings.

following complications or problems:

• If the woman has a skin infection or has started bleeding
• If the woman has a fever of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius) or higher
• Excessive vaginal bleeding
• Difficulty detecting the fetal heartbeat or needing to trace the fetal heartbeat continuously 
• Shoulder dystocia
• If there is more than one baby in the womb 

However, it is very rare for babies born through water birth to develop an infection or any other disease. For example, Legionnaires' disease - it is caused by inhaling water droplets containing Legionella bacteria. It can cause a serious and sometimes fatal illness, causing fever, cough and pneumonia, among other complications.

Other risks include:

• Difficulty regulating the baby's body temperature
• Risk of damage to the umbilical cord 
• Breathing difficulties in the baby
• Breathing obstruction or seizures

According to an article by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, there may be a theoretical risk of water embolism during water birth, which occurs when water enters the mother's bloodstream. Although the British Medical Journal rates the safety of water birth at 95%, they do consider inhalation of water as a potential risk. If the baby is experiencing stress during birth or if the umbilical cord twists during delivery, the baby's oxygen supply is cut off, he starts gasping for breath and if the baby opens his mouth inside the water, the risk of inhaling water also increases.

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ACOG recommends that water birth should be given only to those women who are between 37th week and 41st week and 6 days of pregnancy. Apart from this, there are some other guidelines which include low-risk pregnancy, clear amniotic fluid and the baby's head down position. Water birth cannot be recommended for women who go into labor prematurely or those who have already had 2 or more cesarean deliveries. Since this is a method of normal delivery, if a woman has been asked by the doctor for cesarean delivery, then she also cannot have water birth.

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According to the American Pregnancy Association, water birth is a process of giving birth to a child in a tub of lukewarm water (water temperature is equal to body temperature). During this, the pregnant woman is usually made to sit in a still or inflatable tub containing lukewarm water. There are 2 things in this. First- some women do the process of labor inside the water but deliver the baby out of the water. This can be a good option for those women who want the benefits of hydrotherapy along with the benefits of delivery in the hospital.

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Second- while some women decide to do both labor and delivery by staying in water, that is, the first stage of labor is also in water and the birth of the baby is also in water. The principle behind water birth is that since the baby already lives in the amniotic fluid sac inside the mother's womb for nine months, if the baby is born in a similar environment, then it is considered gentle for the child and this method of birthing is also less stressful for the mother.

Even though water birth delivery is quite famous in western countries, this concept is still not fully developed in India and according to health experts, the main reason for this is that the number of doctors in India is very less in proportion to the patients. In India, the population is so large that doctors do not have time to give personal attention to every patient, while it is very important for a doctor or midwife to be with the woman all the time during water birth delivery because this process can last for a long time. Apart from this, there is also a shortage of clean and pure water and trained supervisors used during water birth delivery in India.

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Despite so many problems, this trend of water birth delivery is gradually becoming famous among the people in India. Talking about its cost, the cost of water birth delivery can vary in different hospitals or centers, but generally its cost ranges from Rs 80 thousand to Rs 1.25 lakh.

Water birth delivery is a method in which a pregnant woman gives birth to her baby in a tub filled with warm water. The water temperature is kept comfortable for the mother and baby, which helps reduce pain and stress during labor. The natural properties of water help relax the body of the pregnant woman and reduce the pain of contractions. Proponents of water birth delivery consider it a more natural and peaceful method, which can be beneficial for both mother and baby. However, this method may not be suitable for all women and requires medical advice and expert supervision.