i'm talking about water birth so i'd love to talk about yeah maybe some pros
and cons of water birth first let's start with what water birth means and then talk about
the pros and cons so water birth means giving birth in the water so meaning the baby is born
their entire body comes out in the water and then they're lifted out of the water and put
on mom's chest so water birth is exactly what it means now it's different from
laboring in the water or using the tub or the shower those are great and make a lot of sense and
great for labor but this is actual the birthing in the water so there are first of all well let
me just before i hit pros and cons i'd love to say that water birth is not available everywhere
so it's more common to find the option for water birth in a birth center or definitely a home birth
but there are some hospitals around the u.s canada of the uk that allow for birth in the water
but that would be more rare um but it can happen so if you are interested in water birth
then definitely your first priority is to find a place to give birth that offers that
so it's not i cannot believe i've had people in a class and i've talked about okay water birth might
be an option where you're giving birth and people say that's what i really want and i ask them where
they're giving birth and i say they don't offer it there so you need to find out beforehand because
only certain places will allow for water birth now a water birth can happen either
in a inflatable tub or in a bathtub or a rigid tub depending upon what is available at the
place where you're giving birth or if you're giving birth at home it is important to have
the water at a certain temperature so that baby is born into a basically doesn't have much of a
temperature difference between inside where they were in a fluid filled environment to the outside
and your care provider is someone who will take care of that and make sure that's maintained now
pros and cons of a water birth first let's start with the pros so uh water birth is something that
first of all laboring in water is something that can take away the pain really be a great
strategy for pain reduction and water birth one of the pros is that you get that pain
um reduction all the way through the birth of the baby so it's not something you have like in
through transition and then once it's time to push that you have to get out and birth the baby that
no with water birth you can continue that pain management all the way through the birth of
the baby now another pro of water birth is that it reduces tearing of the perineum so
because of the pressure and the water and you know just the baby increased ability for tissues to
stretch um the water birth of women who give birth in the water have less tearing up the perineum
either experienced no tearing or a smaller amount of tearing compared to people giving birth on the
land so that is a nice pro to water birth one thing that i feel like isn't talked about a lot
with water birth but personally i to i had two of my four children in the water that i
found was a big pro was the privacy of water birth so instead of a typical birth on a bed
a land birth on the bed um where everyone is pretty much you know right there looking at
your crotch as the baby comes out a water birth has sort of that filtered view of what's going on
which can really lead to a feeling of privacy to the person giving birth and a feeling of a little
bit more autonomy of birthing i think in the water than giving birth on the land is is i would i
believe and finally one of the pros of water birth is a decreased incidence of postpartum hemorrhage
so in an interesting benefit of a water birth now cons of water birth i guess the first con
is just to point out that it's not very available so it's not an option that a lot of people have
so it is rare but the umbilical cord snapping um in the process of pulling baby out of the
water if there was a short cord um that is rare but can be a complication though usually has no
impact on the baby but can be a complication that happens with water birth and then there are there
is a slight increase in infection risk that we have that a couple of studies have seen um that
that might show an increase of infection and then the last con is just maybe the unknown because we
haven't done there haven't been a ton of research studies done on water birth and comparing water
birth and land birth so the unknown is possibly a con when you're trying to make a decision
also the as they're studying the bacteria the gut microbiome and the exposure the positive exposure
of baby to the microbiome that they are exposed to in the on their way out on their exit through the
mom's vagina the baby's bone of the water might not have the same exposure and so that is still
being studied so we still don't know everything about that as well so there are significant pros
and just a few cons that we know of right now though research is catching up to water birth and
it's not that available different places but if it's something that is interest of interest to you
make sure that you look around to see what options you have in your area for water birth i would love
to hear your stories or your questions about water birth go ahead and put them below and
i will get to those in the comments if you found this video helpful hit that like button and i hope
to see you next time on the big wheel of earth thanks for joining me guys see you next time bye