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Weighing in on Water Births
Why Are Moms-to-be Choosing This Birth Method?
By Katherine Bontrager
Dr. Davis says we're mammals, and all mammals are air-breathers from birth. "Our physiology has evolved so as to make the transition to air breathing at the moment of birth," she says. "While intrauterine life is a time of a kind of 'water breathing,' the baby's efforts are really practice breathing, for the time when he or she will need those respiratory tissues and muscles to draw air."
But for Reich, her delivery in water was something she'll never forget. "I vividly remember getting into the hot water and sighing loudly," she says. "I can't lie, my contractions still hurt like hell but the water without a doubt took the edge off. Being in the pool gave me a place to be – a place to feel enclosed and safe – and allowed my mind to relax a bit, and then in turn, my body."
One of her midwives poured water over her back with each contraction while Reich leaned over the edge of the tub. "When it was clear the baby was about to be born, my husband got into the birth tub as well and was there to catch my son as he was born," she says. "The three of us all in the water together is such a sacred moment that will always be treasured. Quiet and gentle, and I hope, soothing for my son as he entered this world. Those first several moments after his birth, just cradling him against me while his bottom half floated in the water, his eyes slowly opening – words can't even describe it. I would do it again a million times over."
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