Waterbirth, It's Not Just for Dolphins Anymore!

I think that has to be one of my favorite quotes! What a follow up to my last post! If you read it then you know not only how I transitioned from hospital birth to home but also from a traditional land birth to the serene beauty of birthing in water. I had hoped to birth all of my babies in the water at one point but by the time my doula arrived with my tub to Kain's birth we were sure he would have been born before the tub was even set up, considering we hardly even made it to the hospital in time for Gage's birth a tub to have him in was definitely out of the question. But my interest in birthing my baby under water never went away and when I planned my first home birth with Aubriel I knew I had to at least try it.


I must say not many things exceed my expectations as this experience did. I had read about how birthing in water helped to control ones pain and relieve much of the pressure you felt during labor. I read about how it was more peaceful for baby as they were born into warm water, exactly what they had been use to rather than the startle of jumping out of your warm bath into cold air, which I know from my our bath experience none of us really like. I had read about how water helped to stretch ones tissues to prevent tearing as the baby eased through your body. And although I had read about many mother's words of their births in water it did not fully prepare me for the full experience it was.


All of the things I read about did happen. Aubriel was born very peacefully, still sleeping even, into the water and although she did not struggle to breath one bit she never even let out a cry. When I first got into the tub half way through my labor the relieve I felt was indescribable, the pressure went away and I felt weightless floating in the warm water. My labor sped up, my body stretched perfectly and I didn't have one tear despite the fact that I was giving birth to a baby in her bag of water which I later discovered was so much better for both of us.

But what I didn't read about was how this experience of a truly peaceful birth forever change my views not only on childbirth but on how as humans we enter this world. For so long I had believed it was a beautiful thing to hear a baby cry once they were born until I saw her born into a world that didn't make her cry. She was born into a world that cradled and comforted her in what she already knew as home. If we think about how children are created and what the world as they know it is for the first nine months, I mean really think about it. They are surrounded by the warmth of their mother womb. They only know the comfort of being carried always in a tub of nurturing fluid that meets their needs as they need them to be met. Until which time they are to be born into a whole new world. A world they enter into to meet cold and in most cases separation from all they have known to this point.

It was during Aubriel's water birth that I realized this is as close as one could come to meeting their child half way during birth. I was able to create an environment that was familiar to everything they have known so that their birth is as stress free as possible for them. So once the stress of traveling through the birth canal is over they enter something they have known already. I was able to lift them gently out of the world they knew into their new world all the while cradling them as it should be. Water birth was an experience that I believed changed both of us as we were able to realize the others world in a medium both of us already knew... kind of like those that can see the thin veil between to worlds.

Since my first water birth I could never imagine not giving birth in the water again. One website that I took so much valuable information from I recently learned may have to close down. This saddens me so much as I know first hand all I have taken from having this knowledge available to me that it would be such a lose for other women to not have this wealth of information easily assessable through www.waterbirth.org

This is what Barbara Harper wrote:
I cannot yet imagine a world without the voice and work of Waterbirth International - we get calls and emails every day from women who need help convincing one hospital or another to let them labor or birth in water. If we die - a big part of the movement dies. Waterbirth has shown us all that women know how to give birth and babies know how to be born. Waterbirth gave us "hands-off", sit back and let the baby out. I see waterbirth mentioned on Blogs every single day, not to mention Baby Story on the TV. I took Waterbirth International to ACOG two years in a row - and was the ONLY booth showing birth films to obstetricians and especially to student physicians. There were tears, laughter and outrage - just the thing to stir up those young crop of doctors. I am finally realizing a life's dream.But now I am faced with letting this dream go. Perhaps I have done enough.Perhaps it is time to quit.About 18 years ago, maybe it was longer, when Mothering Magazine was facing bankruptcy Peggy did a heartfelt plea asking their readers to consider ordering a Life-time subscription. I think the subscriptions were $1000 or$1200, I can't remember now. I do remember that I couldn't imagine not reading my Mothering. So, I bought two and gave one to my obstetrician's office.How can you help us stay open to take the next phone call? - to convince the next obstetrician to incorporate waterbirth into his/her practice - to work with the nurse midwives to install pools in their facilities? To educate an entire hospital on the benefits of allowing women freedom of movement in the water. How much is it worth to see waterbirth become the norm in the US,like it is in the UK? I think we only need a few more years to make that happen. Do women really want waterbirth to be an available choice in every hospital? I think so.Can you help us by getting the word out on blogs and lists? I had to let goof all of the staff except one person to process orders. Miraculously, we made payroll today, but we can't hang on much longer. We need a miracle.If I need to call every single waterbirth parent personally, I will. I don't want 25 years of work to end over a measly $200,000.The work that we have done the last few years has been phenomenal. How God arranged for me to teach in hospitals and medical schools around the planet- Taiwan, Venezuela, Turkey, Mexico, Canada, Holland, Portugal, China,Trinidad, Croatia - I'll never figure that out. I laugh out loud sometimes when I get up in front of an audience of physicians in a medical school overseas - who all want to hear about waterbirth and the incorporation of Gentle Birth practices and principles into their routines.Think about what you can do and call me if you want to chat or if you have some great ideas on how we can quickly move into the black and keep waterbirth alive and thriving.We need your help. Barbara Harper needs your help. The waterbirth/gentle birth movement needs your help.

Blessings,Barbara
Barbara Harper, RN, CLD, CCEFounder/DirectorWaterbirth International
www.waterbirth.org
503-673-0026 -office (out of US or in Portland)
800-641-2229 - toll free
503-710-7975 - cell phone

We LOVE helping women get into Hot Water!!
And have been doing it for 24 years!!