Why a Water Birth

Water provides effective, natural and drug free pain relief for you and your baby and if you use one of our heated birthing pools there are additional benefits before, during and after your birth.

Before Birth

Sinking into a pool of warm water in the days leading up to your birth can be fantastically soothing on sore backs and tired bodies.

Many women and their partners relax in our luxury heated pools just before going to bed to help their bodies unwind. It may also be used for relief in the middle of the night when no position seems comfortable.

Special family time relaxing as a couple or with older siblings in a hot tub before bed helps everyone sleep well.

The pain of symphasys pubis can also be greatly relived by a few hours a day weightless and warm in your pool. Immersion in warm water has also been shown to help reduce pregnancy induced blood pressure.

During Labour & Birth

During labour and birth water can offer fantastic pain relief to many women for various reasons. Pain is a subjective sensation and therefore can be influenced by many factors such as tiredness, fear or loss of control.

Water birth can help by providing:

Relaxation

The constant warmth and support of water helps you to relax and flow with your birth. This in turn promotes the normal physiological progression of labour, encouraging endorphin release (natures own pain killers) as well as oxytocin release(Promoting efficient contractions) and helping to ensure you do not feel overwhelmed.

Reduction in sensory stimulation

The constant warmth surrounding you in your pool and the ability to float which water provides helps you into a space of inward focus and concentration which in turn helps you cope with the pain of labour more easily.

Mobility and security

The support and buoyancy that water offers will help you move freely in labour adopting any position you chose more easily and effectively. Many women say this is an incredible help in making them feel more in control of their labour.

The physical enclosure and warmth of the water in your pool also encourages a real feeling of security and privacy, again helping you to focus inward.

Reduction in perinial damage and the use of drugs

All recent studies and retrospective audits show a significant reduction in perinial damage for those women who give birth in water. Many also conclude that the recourse to narcotics and epidurals and their side effects, is significantly lower when you labour in a pool.

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