Water birth in the bath tub?

[Thandiwe]

Hi! Anyone purposely birth in the bath tub? We have a standard, normal-sized bath tub. I am not going to set up a pool this time, after we had one for the last one. My labor was too fast, it was too time-consuming, and we don't live in a home where I think it would work out this time around.

Sooooo....has anyone purposely had a water birth in the bath tub? I am thinking about birthing while in my smallish bath tub, which may or may not work. Would anyone like to offer whether or not it's worked?

[AnnR33]

Yep, I did just this summer. I also have fast labors and didn't want to deal with filling a big tub nor did I want to birth in the sun room which was the best place for a birth tub. I prefered staying in my room.
Our tub is standard width but longer and deeper. I was able to labor-only about 30 min?-kneeling or laying back but when it was time to push I needed to be on my side to get my legs apart far enough. This worked fine for me since I only had to push 3 or 4x and she was out.

My tub also has handles which was awesome-if it didn't have handles it would have beenm much harder.

I'd just try to position yourself in there now and think how you might labor and deliver to see how you think it might work.

[rabbitmum]

My second child was born in our little bathtub at home, but not purposely. It worked great, though! I stood on my knees and caught him myself.

[berrymama]

My first was a water birth after a 3 hour labor in a very narrow hospital bathtub (NOT intended for birthing in). I ended up staying in a reclining position and letting my one leg hang out of the tub to get my legs far enough apart for comfort. I am planning on birthing this baby at home in our soaking tub, which is wider. I just purchased one of these to allow for deeper water without having it drain out of the overflow drain. http://www.shop.com/Deep_Water_Bath_...l?sourceid=298

[grainneso]

If you're interested in dissipating the contractions, you need to be submerged in water. So if the tub is shallow and you can't fill it up enough to completely cover your belly, it probably won't ease your pain.

[ACsMom]

Wondering about this myself.

[Marlet]

Yup. I did in 07. Ours wasn't standard I don't think though. It was an older clawfoot tub. The length and width was standard but not the depth (I don't think).

Anyhow, it was awesome and I actually wish we were in that apartment again for that reason. I plan on doing it again next month but in a much smaller tub. I think the amount of pain it'll help with has more to do with other things than being submerged. I've known lots of women who use showers for the pain relief (not as a pressure point...just the water and warmth) and you certainly aren't submerged there.

I did notice that the water pretty fast. My labour/birth was 10 hours and I think I spent 8 of them in the tub. When I was bouncing between tub and "land" I'd wait until I was having a hard time focusing and then get in. It took the intensity down a notch but didn't space the contractions or anything. They were still coming at the same rate and length but weren't as intense (though weren't dulled either). It allowed me to catch my breath and refocus. If I felt the need to amp it up again, I got out.

If you think your tub will work just fine for you than by all means use it. I'm surprised more people don't use their tubs.

[RooRooDog]

I gave birth in our bathtub- it wasn't planned that way, though We had a birthing pool, but my labor went so fast (4 hours) that we only got a few inches of water in the pool before I had the baby.

My bathtub is standard size-ish, and I found it to be a little small. Also, the water didn't get nearly deep enough for birth, or even to ease my contractions, so we emptied the water out and just had the shower running on my back with me kneeling/squatting on some towels.

Super easy clean-up, though!

[Pinoikoi]

The first homebirth I saw on one of those baby shows was a woman birthing in a normal tub. I thought it was pretty cool, but I am going to do a birth pool myself. My house has all linoleum downstairs and a half bath and a kitchen, and a comfy futon so I am going to just stay on that floor- the only thing it is missing is the pool or tub.

[mcgee]

The original plan was to use the midwife's inflatable birthing pool, but when she arrived, she took one look at me and told me there wasn't time to inflate and fill the pool. So I had DS in the bathtub instead.

We have a garden tub, but it's probably the smallest garden tub I've seen. It was deep enough that I was able to cover most of my belly. I labored mostly on my knees or laying back in the tub. It was a great experience!

[josie423]

I labored in our tub a bit with DS, but it did nothing for me. It just wasn't deep enough. With this baby I will be using our whirlpool tub which is nice and big and has jets (didn't have this tub for baby #1 or #2).

[Thandiwe]

Originally Posted by grainneso

If you're interested in dissipating the contractions, you need to be submerged in water. So if the tub is shallow and you can't fill it up enough to completely cover your belly, it probably won't ease your pain.

I was submerged in a deep pool last time, and the pain was still insane with contrx right on top of each other. I think that had more to do with the precipitous nature of it, though. Once my water broke (first sign of labor), my contrx were almost immediately 2 min apart. I guess it's the warmth and water in general I'm looking for. Plus I think it may be "cleaner" than birthing on land, easier to drain away than remove stains from sheets.

[MamaMelis]

Originally Posted by josie423

With this baby I will be using our whirlpool tub which is nice and big and has jets (didn't have this tub for baby #1 or #2).

This is exactly what I am planning on doing

[pampered_mom]

Originally Posted by grainneso

If you're interested in dissipating the contractions, you need to be submerged in water. So if the tub is shallow and you can't fill it up enough to completely cover your belly, it probably won't ease your pain.

This is true. Technically I think the ideal is 21" from the bottom of the tub to the bottom of the overflow. I think the key being to submerse your belly as much as possible. I suppose it depends on your size (height, etc) as to whether or not it will be sufficient for what you need.

The other thing to remember is that if you time getting in the birth pool just right it sets off a cascade of hormones that can push you over into transition which is nice, but not necessarily what you might first expect when getting in the tub. I believe Michael Odent has written about this in the past.

[claddaghmom]

I could if need be...or rather I'd prefer it to a dry birth...

But with a pool, it seemed so much more convenient, easier to move, easier for DH to get to me...and less fear of slipping.

Plus bathrooms seem so cold and hard and germy(in my perception).

[ExuberantDaffodil]

I have a standard tub, and I'm a petite woman, and I don't think I could have actually given birth in my bathtub. I did crawl there instinctively and soak on my side for about a half an hour during transition, but the water didn't cover me completely, and it got kind of icky quickly (), so when I felt the need to actually push the baby out, I got out of the tub. I didn't want the baby being born half in, half out of the water (I heard that can be kind of dangerous?). I probably would have loved to birth in the water, but my little tub just couldn't accommodate.