Wearing gloves for a water birth

[Meli65]

I'm a fairly new doula and have attended two water births so far -- both times I've found myself up to my elbows in the bath water helping to massage the mother's back. I noticed at the last one that all of the medical personnel were gloved up to the armpit whenever they approached the tub.

So, what do you do? Certainly there is blood and other stuff in the bath water and they are not my germs. One of the things that truly scares me about hospitals is picking up some god-awful infection. Still, "gloving up" like the staff does doesn't seem right, either. What do you do?

[MidwifeErika]

As a doula, I don't worry about it. I don't hang out with my hands in the water either, though. If I touch the mother, it is a part of her body that is out of the water such as her hand or head or back. If the water was very bloody, I might have more hesitation about dipping my hands in it.... but those armpit high plastic gloves would kind of take away the point of my gentle touch.... kwim? So, I would rather not dunk my arms way in (if I was concerned) and just hold her hand and talk with her than have to glove WAY up to offer touch.

[homebirthing]

I don't worry about it at all. I reach into the water as well. I would wear gloves if I had an open wound or something, but not with healthy hands and a healthy mother.

[onlyboys]

Gloves don't really help, either. There are those shoulder length gloves, I suppose, but they are pretty expensive. The first time I attended a water birth, I was checking heart tones and when I pulled my glove off, I had a huge blood clot inside it. Ick, ick, ick. Since then, I'd honestly rather have my gloves off, so that I can wash up pretty quickly if need be.

[Gilby]

I've struggled with this myself and still haven't got a good answer. The water can get pretty icky and I'm not sure what to do about it.

[hipmummy]

I wish I could help. I have these circulation mitts taht I used on clients. They seem to like them. I buy a paitr for each one. They get dirty but they can be washed and they can use them again. They have them at batha nd body works, body shop and many other places. Also I have used winter gloves with grip to get better traction as I am short and sometimes have to sit and hang down the tub.

[hipmummy]

I wish I could help. I have these circulation mitts I used on clients. They seem to like them. I buy a paitr for each one. They get dirty but they can be washed and they can use them again. They have them at bath and body works, body shop and many other places. Also I have used winter gloves with grip to get better traction as I am short and sometimes have to sit and hang down the tub.

[PureLightDoula]

I don't think gloves make a difference for doulas since we're not performing VE's or anything of the sort and don't have our hands on mom under water usually. Maybe a midwife could answer about universal precautions at water birth???

Offer her partner the job of underwater massage if that's what she wants and you are uncomfortable. Or I've used the shower attachment underwater on a mom's sacrum instead of my hands which she thought was GREAT. You can have her lean over the side and just put the head of the shower right up against her back underwater while you hold the other end of the handle.

I don't massage anywhere underwater for whatever reason... It never occurred to me why!

Sarah