[happyblessedmama]

We're planning to have #3 at a free-standing birth center that allows waterbirths. I've had 2 "land" births so far.

The midwives at the place I'm going to say that 95% of their laboring women use the tub during labor and 60% actually deliver there.

Is there anything I need to know about which way to bring the baby up in case I end up delivering in the tub? How do you push in the tub? (I do not have those "easy" 3 push deliveries - I've pushed for 90 min. and 45 min. with #1 and 2 respectively). Any other things you think it'd be helpful for me to know?

If you had the option to deliver in water but didn't, what made you not? Anything you didn't like? Did the feelings associated with labor change at all? (I know some people have lots of pain, some have pressure, some have a mix, etc. etc. etc.).

 

[watermamma]

I had my 2nd at a freestanding waterbirth center, 1st was hospital birth.

I loved the water, labored in it (and out too) and birthed in it. The ease of position change in the water should help during pushing. I loved pushing and laboring in the water, but my friend did not like being in the water and ended up laboring mostly out of it. You will know what feels right at the time. I found kneeling in the tub, head hanging over edge, to be a very good position for pushing.

As far as bringing baby up, good question, and it was one I asked my midwife. She got down on the floor and demonstrated different scenarios (birthing hand&knees, kneeling, sidelaying, etc) and showed DH and I how to manouver(sp?) baby up to me, unwrap cord, etc. as we were planning on catching babe. That really helped to have a hands-on kind of "lesson". You should ask your midwife to do that for you

Good luck and happy birthing!

 

[plantmommy]

I labored and birthed in the tub. I agree; I found it so easy to change positions while pushing, that I pushed in a bunch of different positions. I squatted most early in the pushing stage, but when she was descending and crowning I was semi-sitting, leaning against the side of the tub with one foot on the side for leverage. It sounds odd, but it worked at the time!

Leaning against the tub, semi-sitting, I was able to hold her head as she crowned, and grab hold of her to lift her up when she came out all the way.

 

[anothermama]

I did what watermama did.........when it was time to push, I really felt like I needed to be UP, and I ended up on my knees kind of leaning over the side of the tub.

I personally really felt like I had an infinitely more ammount of control over the pushing when I was in the water than I did with my daughters dry birth. I felt everything more, but it was also more bearable and controlable.

Both my children were the same size and I tore with my daughter and not with my son.......I think that the water just supports everything better and helps you push with the baby and contractions rather than push AGAINST anything.

I've heard you are supposed to bring the baby up face down, which seems to just happen if the baby presents normally and you labor in a sitting position. But, since I was kneeling facing a wall, my husband had to keep and hand on my son and push him out in front of me as I fell backwards after I pushed him out. And he just bobbed to the surface and I grabbed him. He came up to the surface facing down that way, so I just pulled him out. No one said anything about doing it right or wrong.........

I had the option to *labor* in water with my daughter but I didn't because once I got to the birth center I was so far into it I didn't want to be moved. In hindsite, I really regret not having a support person who could have gotten me into the tub......for me, labor was better in the tub. I regret not trying it with my daughter.

 

[cottonwood]

I labored in the water with my second, and also gave birth there, because I didn't want to get out. The heat did feel good, and the buoyancy made it easier to change positions as I felt the need to. One thing I like most about it was that it functioned as sort of a barrier between me and the other people there -- they didn't have easy access to my body. So it felt like I had a little more privacy. I don't remember how the baby was facing when we brought him up out of the water.

With my third I labored in the water and then right before the birth I remember thinking "this isn't working" and felt like I just had to get out. I had a surge of adrenaline, just about hopped out of the tub (whereas up until then I had felt immobilized by the pain) and knelt and gave birth minutes later. It was really interesting to see just about that exact scenario described by Michel Odent in explaining what happens in a typical "fetus ejection reflex" in undisturbed birth (from an article in Midwifery Today.)

 

[plantmommy]

Oh, I should add that ds, firstborn, the OB cut me, and I was afraid of tearing with dd, but she was a pound heavier, and not a single tear! I credit the water, and non-directed pushing. When she was crowning, I had my hand on her head and eased her out slowly.

Also, I did pull her out "face down" because that's how she came out, and I would have had to have turned her over in the water for it to be any other way. I hadn't thought of that at all, just wanted her in my arms/on my chest.

 

[vkberes]

I birthed my second dd in water and it was such an awesome experience. Like the others have mentioned, when you are in the tub it is really easy to change positions. I probably spent the longest time squatting with my head against the side of the tub (if you do this get a big towel. I only used a wash cloth and my forehead was sore the next day!). What I liked most about birthing in the tub was that I was very exhausted and it was calming and relaxing to lay in my dh's arms and kind of free float in between contractions.

I have no idea about how to bring a baby up and out of the water. I birthed at a freestanding water birth center so the midwives instructed dh on what to do as he caught dd and handed her to me. I was in my own world so I didn't hear a thing they said. LOL

In any case, you will know what feels right as you are birthing your baby. The best advice to give is to listen to your body.

 

[SamuraiEarthMama]

i don't remember the name of the video, but it's produced by barbara harper of waterbirth int'l... anyway, it features a bunch of russian women and their waterbirths. if i remember correctly, they actually keep the baby underwater for what seemed like a loooong time. the belief, apparently, is that the longer the baby stays under, the more likely he will grow up to be a successful cosmonaut! yeek... still, it didn't seem to hurt them, and so i'm not terribly worried about instantly snatching up the baby from under the water's surface.

(my first water labor/birth coming up, too!)

katje

 

[2+twins]

I believe the Russian video you're referring to is Birth Into Being: The Russian Waterbirth Experience.

I've used a birth tub for both of my births but did not give birth in it the first time around (I also did not have an "easy" pushing stage for that particular birth - about 4 hours long). The reason I didn't give birth in the tub was only because I wasn't pushing very effectively there. My midwifes did let me know that the baby was about to be born in case I wanted to get back in for the actual birth, but after 4 hours I just wanted her out (I no longer cared where the birth took place).

The second time around went much faster. The entire birth lasted only 90 minutes - maybe 10 or 15 minutes of which was spent pushing involuntarily (my body just did it - midwifes hadn't arrived yet and actually missed the birth). I labored and gave birth in the tub that time. We did nothing special (I've never heard the thing about the baby facing down when you lift him/her out of the water). I believe the position I gave birth in was with my butt near the floor and leaning back on one or both hands. My dh caught her and I do remember that I kept my right hand over the top of her head as she began to emerge from me. It was really nice. I felt as though I was going to split wide open (probably from the speed of it all) and I attribute the water to keeping my tearing to a very minor level. I also enjoyed the ease of movement during labor - helped me keep on top of the pain and would frequently hang on the side of the tub.