2.28.2012
Water birth and History
Water birth and History
Water birth is a method of giving birth that involves immersion in warm water. The immersion can mean giving birth to the infant in the water or using it as a tool during the labor process. Proponents believe that this method is safe and provides many benefits for both mother and infant, including no need for a Episiotomy, pain relief and a less traumatic birth experience for the baby. However, critics argue that the procedure introduces a risk of infection. However bacteria are also present at birth in a hospital bed, especially if stool has spilled out during birth. A waterbirth clinic in Italy that births approximately half in bed, half in water, found no increased infection rate for water births. This occurred despite the presence of bacteria, most originating from the mother at birth. Statistics show no increased danger to the mother or baby
History
After a stressful day, people often refer to 'escaping to the bath'; because of the way warm water relaxes us and affects the way we feel physically and emotionally. People with haemorrhoids for example often benefit from a hot waterbath. Since most of the pain in childbirth comes from cramps of the uterus (being a muscle), and warm water relaxes muscles, this might be the way reduced pain is perceived by a majority of women. The first recorded water birth occurred in France in 1803 and in Germany in 1805. Ancient Egyptians believed that their priests were born from water. This spiritual connection to water is still evident today in Christian baptism, and many cultures use water in religious ceremonies. In the 1960s, self-educated Soviet researcher Igor Charkovsky explored the safety and possible benefits of water birth in the Soviet Union. In 1974, French obstetrician Frederick Leboyer published a book advocating the immersion of newly born infants in warm water for the purpose of easing the transition from the In joe to the outside world, and to mitigate the effects of any possible birth trauma.
Another French obstetrician, Michel Odent, took Leboyer's work further, using the warm-water birth pool for pain relief for the mother, and as a way to normalize the birth process. When some women refused to get out of the water to finish giving birth, Odent started researching the possible benefits for the baby of being born under water, as well as the potential problems in such births. By the late 1990s, thousands of women had given birth at Odent's birthing center at Pithiviers, and the notion of water birth had spread to many other Western countries.
Twin Birth
giving twin birth
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