Water Birth: A Morphine and Womb Simulator
Water birth is said to be the next best pain reliever to the epidural. For women desiring a natural birth this can be a wonderful way to help ease the pain and work of labor and help them to relax. During labor the uterine muscles contract very intensely, with the pain being caused by the lack of oxygen to the muscles and the buildup of lactic acid. Women can help ease the pain of labor by making sure that they keep the rest of their muscles as relaxed as possible (the most important ones being the bottom, hips, legs, arms, and facial muscles).
Water greatly facilitates this relaxation. Staying relaxed also helps the mother to mentally cope with the intensities of childbirth. If a mother is as relaxed as possible she may not even go through the infamous transition period of late labor and will move gently and smoothly into the pushing phase. Water enables such a comfortable and relaxing environment that the body’s stress response is suppressed. The body is then able to carry out its oxytocin-endorphin response to its fullest.
When the mother is tense and fearful the hormone adrenaline can slow down labor by inhibiting the release of oxytocin, the hormone responsible for the uterine contractions, and it prevents the hormone loop that results in the release of the natural endorphins. These endorphins have been proven to be more effective than morphine.
Water also relieves the work the mother has to do to support herself against gravity, thereby allowing her to focus more of her energies on the labor itself. When a mother is laboring in a tub she is able to move and change positions easily to enable the labor to proceed as easily and quickly as possible.
Great for Newborn Too
A water birth also provides great benefits to the newborn. Living in a fluid-filled environment for almost ten months the transition onto dry land can be very jarring for the infant. Being born into water can ease that transition with the water serving as a middle-ground. There is no sudden shock as baby is born from the warmth of his mother’s womb into the cold dry air. He is born, floating in warm, body-temperature water and gently lifted to the air by his mother’s arms.
Some mothers are concerned about the safety of a water birth with regards to the infant aspirating the water. It is very safe. The infant has spent its short life living and growing in liquid. It practices breathing movements in the amniotic fluid, and swallows it. In fact, during and immediately after the birth, and for several minutes the newborn is still provided oxygen through the placenta until the umbilical cord stops pulsating. The baby will not take its first breath until it is lifted to the air for two reasons: the baby will not breath the tub water because it has a different salinity than the amniotic fluid and the lungs are collapsed and will not fill with air until they meet the atmosphere.
As sensitive mothers we seek to bring our infants into this world as gently as possible. Laboring in water is a superb way to make the mother as comfortable as she can be and is a wonderful way for an infant to transition from his mother’s womb to life on land.
