Filed under: aqua midwife, birth, empowered childbirth, waterbirth | Tags: aqua midwife, birth in water, free waterbirth information, labour in water, labouring in water, water birth, water birth blog, water birth resources, water labour, waterbirth, waterbirth at home, waterbirth blog, waterbirth in the birthing center, waterbirth in the hospital, waterbirth information, waterbirth resource list, waterbirth resources
Apart from medical factors, psychological factors also influence the birth process. The more familiar the environment is for the birthing woman, the more complication-free and easy a birth is. Beyond that the water offers a shelter into which the birthing woman can dive into, if she wants to concentrate on the process of labour.
A water birth can take place in the hospital, in the birth center or at home.
Water birth in the hospital
Some hospitals [in Germany] have special bearing tubs in the in the maternity ward, which are equipped with all comfort. A birthing tub is accessible from each side, has handles and footrests build in and is fillable up to the chest with water. The parents do not have to worry about the filling of the tub or the disposal of the waste water. In some gynaecological clinics the cardio activity of the baby and the activity of the labour of the mother can be supervised with waterproof telemetry. Many midwives and physicians trained themselves further for water birth. If you are interested in water birth in a hospital, get information from the hospitals of your region whether this possibility of birthing is offered there.
See also Waterbirth International
Water birth in the birth center
Some birth centers have a birthing tub available. Sometimes parents can bring a birthing tub of their choice. Water basin rental companies offer different, transportable birthing tubs. Many midwives of the birthing centers trained themselves further for water delivery and how to connect it with the midwife assistance for a active birth.
See also water babies (Germany)
waterbirthinfo (USA)
Waterbirth at home
With the waterbirth in the own home parents can create their individual birth surroundings. Parents themselves decide which persons are to help with the birth, in which rooms they want to experience it the “celebration of the birth” (Leboyer), which music they want to hear and they determine want they want to eat. They can use the bathing tub or rent a birthing tub with a lot of space. Many parents buy a inflatable children’s pool, which permits a depth of water of 50 cm at least. The liberty to “create your own birth” (see also video: “Kinder kriegen “, Birth center Vienna), requires good planning and birth preparation. Freelance midwives support parents, accompany the house/water birth and lead the following water training in the childbed. From midwives led water baby meetings in the first year of life of the child helps with the transition from the water life in utero to the future land life
See also hebinfo (German), the website of aqua midwife Cornelia Enning from where this translations come
For rental pools or purchasing birthing pools:
aquadoula
yourwaterbirth
gentlewater (UK)
My lens on waterbirth:
waterbirth101
Filed under: aqua midwife, birth, labour, midwifery, waterbirth | Tags: newborn, waterbirth, birth in water, midwifery, birth, natural childbirth blog, Cornelia Enning, birth blog, baby, labour hormones
A healthy baby is able to overcome the distance between uterus and motherly chest by its own strength if the conditions of its birth give it the opportunity. The baby itself gives the impulse to the mother to release labour hormones. In the water her body reacts faster and more easily.
In the stage of expulsion the baby repels itself with his little legs at the wall of the uterus while rotating through the birth channel. In the water the pelvic bones of the mother give way better. Born into the water, the newborn child paddles with its little arms in order to arrive at the chest of the mother.
The baby can already take up the first eye contact in the water with its mother. Water babies are born with open eyes. The transition of the fruit water to the bath water is like a restorative stopover on the birth way. The birth under water is one of the gentlest forms for a baby to see the light of the world.
Translated with permission from aqua-midwife Cornelia Enning’s website hebinfo.de
Filed under: aqua midwife, birth, waterbirth | Tags: active birth, avoid tearing, birth in water, non-interventionist birth, painfree birth, unmedicated birth, water birth, waterbirth
During labour the movements of the woman support the birth procedure. The water permits movements which were to be implemented ashore only with difficulty. In which position the birth of the child is to take place, a woman can decide best herself in the weightlessness of water.
The water lets the birth canals become so eased and flexible that the birthing woman will get along without pain medication. She also does not need artificial hormones because the water will energize the body-own hormones. At the end of the birth she will be able to control how quickly the head of the child is to be born and can thereby avoid tearing.
Interferences by birth attendants are difficult in the water and during a normal birth process unnecessary. Particularly women after a cesaeren section have a opportunity with the waterbirth to bring this child normally in the world.
Translated from aqua-midwife Cornelia Enning’s website hebinfo.de
Filed under: aqua midwife, labour, midwifery, waterbirth | Tags: waterbirth, midwifery, waterbirth at home, woman giving water birth, aqua midwife, waterbirth in europe
Already since the beginnings of midwifery, bathing has been used as birth assistance during labour.. Similarly long, women report that they do not want to leave the warm water to give birth to their child on the bed.
Progressive midwives already began before approximately 15-20 years, to search for “alternative” birth methods and birthing positions, moved by the needs of the pregnant women. In due course of time water birth turned out to be the most gentle and popular. Water birth is one of the gentlest birth methods for mother and child: Pain reduction for the mother and stress reduction for the child.
Experience of many years and scientific investigations on the procedures of water birth prove today free of doubts that the water birth is absolutely harmless for mother and child . Everyone can easily understand, which special and intimate relationship the unborn child has to (fruit) the water, which is his home for the first nine month.
In water, births works with the so-called dipping reflex which closes the bronchial tube of the newborn waterproof. A newborn child inhales for the first time only if its (face) skin has no more contact with the water.
Women who gave birth to their child in the water, say in the most cases that they had a beautiful and gentle birth experience. Beyond that the water birth has also “medical” advantages: frequently the birth precedes somewhat faster, fewer pain medication is needed, and the number of episiotomies (dam cuts) and dam injuries (tearing) is smaller. This can be traced back to the relaxation and pain reduction which is experienced in a warm tub bath.
The modern birth assistance permits women to decide how long they want to enjoy their birth bath. Each woman can get the advantages of the water before, during and after birth. A water birth designates the baby’s birth of the under water.
From Aqua-Midwife Cornelia enning’s website hebinfo.de
Photo by B. Baltimore
Filed under: aqua midwife, baby care, birth, empowered childbirth, homebirth, midwifery | Tags: waterbirth, midwife, waterbirth at home, waterbirth midwife, waterbirth Europe, waterbirth Germany, Cornelia Enning, waterbirth contact, aqua midwife
It is a great pleasure and honor for me to announce my new series of translations from the website of aqua-midwife Cornelia Enning from Germany. Her work is admirable. If you have any questions or are interested in her services, feel free to contact me:
For direct contact with aqua-midwife Cornelia Enning:
Keplerstr. 16, D-75417 Mühlacker
Telefon: 011-49 (07042) 15536 FAX : 011-49 (07042) 950945
Cornelia Enning has been a licensed midwife in Muehlacker, Germany since 1972. She has been doing homebirths/waterbirths since 1975. She received a B.E. in psychology and pedagogy in 1972 from the University of Berlin. She has been doing homebirths and waterbirths since 1975 and is the founder of the German parents association “Wasserbabies.”
Cornelia is editor of the quarterly Wasserbaby-Post and author of several books about waterbirth at home and in hospitals. She directs the German Federation of Aquapaedagogik and instructs parents in water training for newborns. In addition, she has taught waterbirth midwifery to more than 4000 midwives and obstetricians. Cornelia has two adult children and one granddaughter.
