im hoping to have a water birth with my second baby and was just wandering ifn anyone could offer em any advice or experiences . thank you x

BE ATE MY REPLY!!! GRRRRRR!!!!!
Calm ;-)

I had my 4th water birth 6 months ago and i love them (as you can probably guess lol) (my birth story is in homebirths)

I had my 1st 14 years ago when it was quite a "new" thing. I had read about waterbirths and thought i would give it a try.

With it being my first i was really exciting and couldn't wait to get into the water So i think i got in to early and slowed things down (i was in the pool for about 8 hours!lol) but with each of my others i have waited till i was in established labour before i got in and they were alot quicker (my second i was in the water 1hr, my third 2 1/2 hr and my fourth 20min!)

I find the pain relief of being in water amazing and really like the privacy of being in the pool and the "hands off" approch of the midwives.

I also really love how relaxed the babies are when the are born non of mine even cried they just looked up at me with their lovey eyes! ;-)

I did use other pain relief like TENS and aromatherpy (oil in a burner) before i got into the water and G&A when i was in the water (which i LOVED lol)

I hope you get your waterbirth and enjoy it as much as i did.
If you have got any questions please ask.
xx

I was only allowed in the water for a few hours so I sadly wasn't able to give birth in the pool but I loved it. You just feel so much more comfortable as you're weightless and more mobile in the water. It also had some pain relieving qualities but I still needed gas and air.

It can slow contractions down though, which it did with me so I had to get out had have in infusion to speed them up. Plus you can't have diamorphine or an epidural if you're in the pool.

I'm definatley going to ask to try it again with my next birth in April- try not to set your heart on it of you're in hospital cos the pool could already be in use or it might not be suitable for your birth. Give it a go though if you can- good luck!

I had my fourth baby in the pool at hospital....it was absolutely fantastic and would highly recommend giving it a go, it was so much more relaxed and I felt more comfortable in the pool compared to my previous 3 births. I used gas and air whilst in the pool and found this was enough pain relief for myself combined with the water. I do hope to use the pool again this time with baby no5, provided all is well and the pool is free, thats probably the only downside with hospital birthing pools is that theres usually only one and if someones already using it then that option is gone.
Whatever you decide hope all goes well. x

Dannii x
33+1

I was at home in the pool for 7 hours and it does really help with the pain. Unfortunately was not able to give birth in i. I would highly recommend it.

Rebecca & 8 week old Luke.

[Modified by: rebecca1975 on October 29, 2009 08:00 PM]

thank u all for ur comments. was any1 elses second birth quickeer with a water birth? my 1st labour was 43 hours long. keen2 not repeat that lol x

hi my 1st labour was about 24 hours 13 hours full labour and as i said 8 hours in the water and my second I was in labour for about 3 1/2 hours and in the water for 1 hour.
My second labour was great!!
x

hi michelle 07. thats the kind of labour i want lol. obviously it might not happen that way but id really like 2 at least try getting in2 the water x

I loved it. Have a look at my other posts and read my birth story. x

I only got into the pool 40-50 minutes before little one arrived but the pool was lovely and warm! My whole body relaxed exactly when I needed it to and baby was born there. Silly hubby thought the babt was going to drown if I took too long of a break between delivering the head and then the body!

I had a bit of gas and air but that's all. The only down side of the pool was that the next day I noticed I had a bruise along the underside of my jaw ... I'm guessing I dropped my jaw onto the edge of the pool at some point. I remember resting on it a bit. At the time I didn't notice and hubby says he was too preocupied to notice anythign else but there was a bit of bits and blood in the water .. I remember the widwife cleaning up a bit but when I sat back holding Sammy for the first cuddle I noticed that the water was completely red. Not a bad thing really as it was bound to happen but oh well.

Hope you get the birth you want and I would def recommend a water birth even if you don't deliver in it it's worth it to relax your body a bit!