EVER THOUGHT OF USING A BIRTH POOL?

You know when you get into a nice, warm bathtub and you instantly sigh your tensions away? Your muscles relax, your body is soothed and you mind drifts off. Your worries melt into the water that surrounds you and you feel cocooned in warmth and relaxation.

So how are birth pools so beneficial for labour then?

It was Michel Odent (one of the most famous obstetricians ever!) who said “Birth is first a hormonal process.” Your hormones are strongly linked to your emotions, and while submerging yourself into water won’t get things going, it sure can maintain that flow of oxytocin while you are in labour. Oxytocin, the love hormone. The hormone that is responsible for your uterus surging.

Being in a birth pool (or bath tub) gives you:

• a sense of privacy

• buoyancy and weight off of your bump

• freedom of movement

• mind and body relaxation

whilst promoting:

• shorter 1st and 2nd stage of labour

• a hands-off birth

• birthing in an upright, instinctive position

• less desire for other forms of pain relief

• much lower chance of episiotomy

• less chance of perennial tearing

• higher satisfaction levels

(all studies and their results can be found on evidencebasedbirth.com)

Do you think labouring/birthing in water could be a nice option for you?

Images found via:

@a_midwife_in_montana

@yourwaterbirth

@birthbecomesyou

@artshapedphotography

#sevenoaks #sevenoakshypnobirthing #waterbirth #birthinginwater #relaxation #kent #hypnobirthing #birthdoula #somanybenefits