Water Birth in San Antonio, TX

Known as “the midwife’s epidural,” laboring in water has been shown to provide a range of benefits that can enhance the birthing experience for both mama and baby. Immersing in warm water during labor can provide pain relief, promote relaxation, and reduce stress. This soothing experience also provides a gentler transition into the world for your baby. 

BENEFITS OF A WATER BIRTH

The buoyancy of the water helps to ease the pressure on the mother’s body, providing a sense of weightlessness, and allowing you to easily move and find more comfortable positions during labor. Warm water also softens perineal tissues, making them more elastic and less prone to tearing. Being embraced by water can also promote relaxation and reduce stress, which can be particularly helpful during labor.

Here are some of the benefits of a water birth as noted by the American Pregnancy Association:

• Soothing, comforting and relaxing
• Can increase the mother’s energy
• Lessens a mother’s body weight, allowing free movement
• Promotes more efficient uterine contractions and improved circulation – less pain for mama, more oxygen for baby
• Can lower blood pressure
• Reduces stress-related hormones, allowing mama’s body to produce endorphins, which serve as pain-inhibitors
• Causes the perineum to become more elastic and relaxed, reducing the incidence and severity of tearing
• Physical relaxation, which allows for mental relaxation
• Provides greater sense of privacy, which can reduce inhibitions, anxiety, and fears
• Provides an environment for the baby similar to the amniotic sac
• Eases the stress of birth for the baby, thus increasing reassurance and sense of security

AT HOME WATER BIRTHS

When it’s time to welcome your baby into the world, I will supply a portable tub for your labor and delivery. You may choose to labor in the water and get out of the tub before you deliver your baby, or you may choose to have a natural water birth in the tub. It is your choice.