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Waterbirth

A Gentle Birthing Choice

By Debora Geary

There are two main options for a waterbirth location: at home or at a birthing center, although some hospitals are now offering waterbirthing options as well.

I chose the birth center option because of my center's experience with waterbirth, their close association with a hospital and high-risk specialists, and their very snazzy birthing tub. Especially for the birth of our first child, we are prepared to trade some of the privacy and intimacy of giving birth in our living room for not having to figure out all the logistics of giving birth in our living room.

Jeanette LeBlanc of Glendale, Ariz., chose a home birth. Her decision to have a waterbirth was one she made during the labor process. "I was not committed to water at all," she says. "I knew that water relaxes me. However, I just wanted the pool available to me and intended to make my choice about where I labored and delivered based on what felt right at the time."

She made her decision for a homebirth, with a water tub to labor in, based on extensive research, and she advises other parents considering this route to do the same. "Do your research, trust your instincts and follow your heart – only you can decide if a home waterbirth is the right choice for you," she says. "It is outside the normal pregnancy and birth experience in this country, and you may encounter very negative opinions, but have faith in your body and in the amazing process of birth."

Preparing for a Waterbirth
If you are considering a waterbirth, it is essential to find the right provider. "Expectant moms who want a waterbirth should find a professional birth attendant whom they fully trust and who has past experience attending waterbirths," says Karil Daniels, a San Francisco-based filmmaker and waterbirth educator. "It is critical that the birth care provider is not reluctant and is genuinely supportive of a woman's desire for a waterbirth."

Particularly if you are having a home waterbirth, there are a lot of logistical preparations. Several companies rent and sell waterbirthing tubs. Women have used options as simple as an inflated kiddie pool or as complex as a Jacuzzi hot tub.

Spend time checking out the options well in advance of your birth – try talking with your midwife or doing an online search. Whether you are having a home or a birth center waterbirth, it is important to prepare yourself and anyone else who will be sharing your birth experience.

"I urge women who are considering waterbirth to educate themselves about birth in general and waterbirth in particular, so they know what issues they will face and how waterbirth can assist them in creating the best possible birth situation for themselves and their babies," says Daniels.

Want to see more?

• Make a Birth Plan here!
• Read about waterbirths here!
• The Homebirth Hype: Everything You Need to Know About Delivering at Home
• Birth in the Water, Birth at Home
• Talk about it!