Questions about a water birth

[Lovemybump1]

I'm wondering whether anyone can answer my questions please

After giving birth in a pool how long before you have to get out? Do you deliver the placenta in the pool or on dry land? Does the water then get cold if you can stay in a while? If you have to get out, does it not cut the skin to skin contact time you have with the baby? When you do get out then don't you and baby get cold quickly so what do they do? Dry and dress baby and send you for a bath/shower? Do you need a bath/shower after a water birth?

Sorry for all the questions......many of then may seem obvious to you but I'm clueless to all of this as a ftm.

Thank you x

 

[Athena]

Clueless about WB also so following for advice. Good questions x

 

[Kess]

I think a lot of the answers are flexible depending on your plans. I personally felt the urge to get out as soon as he was born, I spent maybe a minute cuddling him then wanted to be on dry land - the pool felt kind of liminal for me, like a seperate labour-space, I needed to get me and Ro onto dry land to feel real again.

MW put a bunch of towels on the settee for me to be sat on and wrapped in and Ro had a hat put on. Cuddled to my chest with his hat on and a towel around us both, in a warm room, it didn't matter that we were both damp/wet still, and we didn't miss skin-to-skin.

I delivered the placenta reclined on the settee, I was focussed on Ro and MW felt my tummy, told me to cough and it plopped out.

I think I bathed later that evening, but it wasn't urgent as the waterbirth does reduce the need. My Mom washed Ro's hair but the rest of him was clean enough and we wanted to keep the vernix on, so just wrapped in a towel until he was dry then dressed.

 

[Lovemybump1]

Thank you for your reply. I will be in a hospital, so am wondering how different it would be there.

It sounds like you had a very relaxed time after the birth, which is the one thing making me think a homebirth would be lovely, but too scared that something would go wrong and wouldn't be able to make it to the hospital etc etc.

 

[Kess]

It was all amazingly relaxed. Dim lights, quiet voices, my own space, all the people I wanted there and no-one else. Most importantly, control over my space. It enabled me to retreat into my own little world and just accept labour - I could really tell the difference in pain levels when I got slightly tense once or twice. Afterwards, I snuggled up with Ro, my husband had lots of time with Ro straight away with no "experts" making him feel incompetent, my Mom and sister and Dad were all there too (sister cut the cord once it'd stopped pulsing) and MW got me and DH tucked up in bed with food and drink and LO in the moses basket next to us and we were left there as our own little family.

I wouldn't want to birth any other way. It was also fun winding my SIL up when she came to visit the new baby and the topic of HB came up, I was able to point to the very spot (about 5ft from where she was sitting) where he was born . Hospital birth wasn't an option for me, I'd have been stressed out and I know that would have made a much more difficult time of it for me, both in terms of pain and also the liklihood of interventions endangering me and LO. If you're interested, the Father's Homebirth Handbook has a load of studies and references regarding safety of HB and how to make the decision you're most comfortable with. I found it really useful to read myself, as well as giving it to my DH and my Dad to calm their nerves. Are you far from the hospital?

 

[Athena]

This is so nice to read. I'm hoping to use a MLU instead of hospital but my MW recently put me off and told me to why risk it and I should go to hospital instead where I'd have no hope of a water birth-something I desperately wanted from day 1. Thank you for sharing your positive experience, my mind is made up and I'm going to the independent unit, hospital is a 15 min transfer should something go wrong.

 

[Feronia]

I stayed in the tub for about 10 minutes before DH cut her cord and I got out to deliver the placenta. I could have stayed in to deliver the placenta, but the warm water was spacing out my contractions so my midwife told me it would be faster on dry land. DH held her for some skin to skin while I got out and I delivered the placenta in 5 minutes then had her right back to breastfeed on the floor. It was lovely!

My midwives had a bunch of blankets over her, but she got most of her warmth out of the tub from skin to skin with DH. I think you will definitely want a shower after birth no matter how you do it! I took one about an hour after birth.

 

[Ivywal]

After giving birth in a pool how long before you have to get out?
Only a few minutes later, the water was getting cold and baby was really mucousy and needed some oxygen.

Do you deliver the placenta in the pool or on dry land?
I was out of the pool but this wasn't a requirement. I was on my knees holding my baby and I felt the placenta move then pushed it out then sat down behind it.

Does the water then get cold if you can stay in a while?
They can always put more hot in.

If you have to get out, does it not cut the skin to skin contact time you have with the baby?
Everyone stood around supported me so I could get out without having to let go of baby, I then sat down with her and cuddled her while the midwife put the little oxygen mask on and off her face.

When you do get out then don't you and baby get cold quickly so what do they do?
I was wrapped in towels straight from the dryer, we had an extra helper beside midwife and husband and it was her job to put them in when I started pushing.

Do you need a bath/shower after a water birth?
I was pretty clean after getting out of the pool so perhaps could have gone without if if I hadn't sat on my placenta for a while and sometimes the baby will poo on you while doing skin to skin. A shower is also good as you can have your first after birth wee in there without having to strain anything or sit down. We didnt wash the baby for a few days, we just wiped her down to get the blood off then just spot cleaned her and rubbed the vermix in.

 

[Pielette]

After giving birth in a pool how long before you have to get out?
I stayed in for about twenty minutes afterwards cuddling Noah.

Do you deliver the placenta in the pool or on dry land?
I delivered the placenta in the pool. It took about twenty minutes. I started to feel slight contractions again, passed Noah to my DH and the midwives and got the placenta out very easily.

Does the water then get cold if you stay in a while?
As a pp has said just put more warm water in My DH was in charge of keeping the temperature nice and warm.

When you do get out don't you and baby get cold quickly?
My mum warmed some towels up on the radiators before Noah was born. One midwife and my DH helped wrap me up in the towels as I got out and another midwife wrapped Noah up in a towel and took him off to be weighed and measured.

Do you need a bath/shower after a water birth?
I was pretty 'clean' afterwards. But I had to be transferred into hospital due to dehydration so thoughts of baths or showers went out the window I did feel pretty dirty the next day but that might have been due to having a catheter and not having washed my hair for a couple of days, plus the bleeding makes you feel horrible either way.

 

[Lovemybump1]

Thank you for your responses. Helping me to understand and to make an informed decision about a water birth.

 

[Belle25]

Hi,
Just wanted to add I had a water birth with dd2.
Was the best xperience ever.
No tearing and amazing for pain relief.
I highly, highly recommend it.
Xx

 

[Lovemybump1]

Thank you Belle. Midwife hasn't started discussing birth plans etc with me yet. Definitely a possibility if it is available, though!

 

[Sam Pearson]

I had skin on skin with both of my waterborn babies for a week post birth. I remained topless for that entire timeand bub was mostly naked. With our Winter baby we had the room well heated. With our Summer baby it was a Sydney heatwave so wearing less clothes was a relief for both of us.

 

[autumn88]

You can deliver the placenta in the water or get out. its your choice.

 

[Guppy051708]

I've had two water births and palming a third. DS1 was a hospital water birth. As soon as I pushed him out we had a minute or two skin to skin. Then I got out to birth the placenta. I don't feel it interrupted bonding, really bc it only took a few seconds to get out of the pool. Then my baby was handed right back to me once I got into bed. Skin to skin resumed.
My placenta took a long time to get out so I got the injection. I wanted a physiological third stage but my gut told me to take it and I'm glad I did bc j bled the max amount before they consider it a hermmorage. I later found out I was severely anemic and extremely close to needing a blood transfusion. At the time I didn't feel scared or rushed or anything but I did follow my intuition.


DS2 was an out of hospital water birth w MWs. It was basically done exactly the same as far as push the baby out and then have a couple minutes then hop out and get the baby back (they don't let u hold the baby while u get out for safety reasons, said true for my hospital birth). The cord can stay intact it just takes a bit of help but no biggie. I did have a shirt cord w DS2 so it was a little more tricky but it wasn't a big deal at all

Here at least, one reason why they want u to deliver the placenta outside of the pool is to measure blood loss. If I gets to a certain point, than intervention is necessary (like my first birth). If u were to stay in the water it's extremely hard to measure that blood volume loss. I didn't have the choice in either of my births. There r crazy birthing laws in some US states and I'm guessing it had to do w that

Some places (not around here tho) don't make u get out but the vast majority will. I'm as crunchy as they come but in all honesty I dot feel like it got in the way of our bonding at all. It literally took two seconds to get out and he was back in my arms.

As for water staying hot, my HB MWs kept the pool covered as long as possible. That way it stayed hot (my room felt like a jacuzzi even w the cover). But once I decided to get in they only had to add hot water once (which they can do with limited interuption to u). They hooked up a hose to my sink and placed the other end in the pool. With DS1 I pushed for 6 hours (he was face up). Since it was at the hospital they had this facet that comes out of the ceiling and drops the water into the pool. They had to use the hot water from that about 5x to keep it warm but I didn't feel disturbed in the least. I never noticed the water getting cold bc it never got that cold and I was used to it. In fact sometimes I was sweating But they like to keep it at a specific temp especially near the birth to help keep baby warm. And obviously it needs to be a certain temp during labor to actually help ease pains but for me I never noticed it getting cold The caregivers are really good about refilling it and such.

As for the baby, in both cases baby was born. They helped me hold him at first and then once I was fine to do that they instructed me to keep his body under the water (NOT the head!!!). We did skin to skin and he stayed warm between the water and me. When they were getting him out (first) the wrapped him in warm towels and put a hat on him. Then I got out and hoped into bed. The undid the towels so that we were chest to chest but covered both of us under the same blanket. It worked great

 

[Reidfidleir]

After giving birth in a pool how long before you have to get out?
They had me get out after about five minutes or so because my baby was born a month early and they wanted to make sure he stayed warm.
Do you deliver the placenta in the pool or on dry land?
Dry land
Does the water then get cold if you can stay in a while?
Yes it does cool off unless you have a heater in the pool like I did. It still cooled off though.
If you have to get out, does it not cut the skin to skin contact time you have with the baby?
No. They helped me out as I held the baby. He was still attached. I held him for at least the first half hour if not an hour.
When you do get out then don't you and baby get cold quickly so what do they do?
I was very hot and sweaty and my birth was in September so not too cold. They put a hat on the baby and wrapped him in a towel. They laid me on my couch and put a blanket over me I think.
Dry and dress baby and send you for a bath/shower?
They put a little shirt on him a diaper and a hat.
Do you need a bath/shower after a water birth?
Yes!!!! I think I waited til the next day though. I was so tired. Born at 8:55pm 17 hour labor 3 hours pushing. Midwives left at midnight. I smelled so bad hahaha probably sweat and lots of hormones. It was a strange smell. My hair looked pretty good/interesting after dipping in the water/fluid haha. Tmi. But felt very good to shower te next day.


FYI having a water birth may possibly increase pushing time. I found out after the fact. Not to scare you mine was 3 hours mostly because he came out with his hands over his face so it made it that much harder to get him out. No tearing though!!!