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Natural Birth
mrsodonnell12
member
Hospital Water Birth
mrsodonnell12
member
I would love to hear your birth stories and experiences!
Mom to Carter, Kendall, Kiersten and Baby O #4
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Hospital Water Birth
I've only had a home waterbirth, but I've been present at my BFFs last two hospital waterbirths. They were wonderful births.
She was lucky to have a doctor who was willing to just let her have a heplock instead of the IV, which made moving around in the tub much easier.
During the first birth I witnessed they made her push in a very funky position - reclining in the tub kind of like you would in a bed. There was nowhere for her to grip except for some bars behind her that you use to pull yourself out of the tub. She ended up pulling a bunch of muscles in one of her shoulders during pushing because of the funky angle of the bar.
The last birth she asked her doc if she could deliver in a different position and she was OK with it. BFF delivered on her hands and knees in the tub and it went much better for her.
From what I saw, a waterbirth in the hospital isn't much different than a waterbirth at home. The tub was a little different, but it seemed to serve the same purpose. I know from my waterbirth that I loved every minute of it. The tub felt like an epidural taking the pressure off of my back. It really helped to relax me. The worst part of all was if you pooh in the tub, but even that isn't that bad. They just scoop it out with a fish net like nothing happened.
I think that my water baby had a much more peaceful entry into this world than my other two had. Those moments after she was born where we were in the tub snuggling together in the warm water are some of the best memories of her birth.
Thank you so much for sharing! Did they let your friend and he LO stay in the tub for a while after delivery or how does that work? Did she deliver the placenta in there?
She never delivered her placenta in there. I didn't deliver mine in the water either. She was able to snuggle the baby for a while (they were delaying cord clamping) and then once the cord stopped pulsing they cut it. By that time my friend was ready to get out of the tub, so she handed the baby off so they could clean him off and do the newborn evaluation while she delivered the placenta in the bed.
I'm sure there are cases where women deliver the placenta in the tub, but to be honest, in the moments following the birth the tub gets pretty bloody and it would be hard for the doc or MW to see what is going on down there IMO.
I probably walked (or I guess shuffled while DH and MW held me up) 50 feet from my family room where my tub was to the bedroom to deliver my placenta there. Cord was still attached, baby was in my arms, and the placenta was still there through the whole walk and it was no big deal. I started to get the shakes about ten minutes or so after the birth and was ready to get out of the tub and move at that point.
About delivering the placenta in the water - I've read there is a risk of water emboli if the placenta is delivered in the water. I'm sure the risk is extremely small but still something to consider. I'm planning a hospital water birth for my next. Policy at the hospital is you must deliver the placenta out of the water because of that risk.
I labored in and out of the tub (I think mostly out of the tub, but there are several lost hours there, lol) and delivered in the tub. Luckily my hospital's policy is no routine IV or heplock, and intermittent monitoring with a handheld doppler is standard, so I wasn't bothered very much in the tub. I delivered floating on my back, holding my knees, with my feet against the inside of the tub. H was in the tub behind me, supporting my shoulders. I could have pushed in any position, and that's what felt right.
She came out of the water right away. The cord didn't pulse for very long, and was too short for me to very comfortable, so they cut it earlier than I had predicted. I moved to the bed to deliver the placenta (or more accurately, to not deliver, as I had a retained placenta).
The delivery went wonderfully and I would definitely do the water again. Having nothing to compare it to, I'm not sure if it helped with pain relief, but for some reason I just couldn't picture delivering on dry land.
Thank you- that is very helpful. This is all new to me. I labored in the tub a bit with DS, but actually delivered him in the hospital bed so the mechanics of it were pretty simple and there was no moving around after he was born. That is the only part of water birth that I am finding to not really like- I just want to snuggle my baby when she is born! With DS, we had skin to skin for at least an hour after he was born. They wiped him off as I was holding him, but he didnt leave my arms until later.
Good to know- thank you!
Oh my goodness.... love this! I cant find part three thougH! Can you post the link?