Soak your labor worries away

"Hydrotherapy" is the use of a heated water bath or pool by a laboring woman during labor and birth. Many women in labor find that being in water helps them relax and helps relieve pain. Some women prefer to stay in water at the time of birth and deliver their baby in the tub or pool. Others stay in water only part of the time during the labor and choose to birth their babies in a bed. This article will describe some basic information about the use of a warm water bath for labor and/or birth.

How did water birth first get started?

The first recorded water birth was in 1803 in France. According to the story, a woman who had been in labor for 48 hours climbed into a tub of hot water to relax and her baby was born shortly afterward. Not much is mentioned again about the technique until the 1960's when a Russian scientist, Igor Charcovsky, began experimenting with the use of warm water immersion for women in labor to see how it affected their labor, the birth, and newborn behavior.

Then in the late 1970's through the 1980's various obstetric practitioners began using warm water baths for laboring and birthing women. Dr. Michel Odent in France and Dr. Michael Rosenthal in California collected information about its effects and women who had experienced it told their stories. Interest in the idea gradually spread around the world.

What are the benefits of water during labor and/or birth?

Soaking or floating in a pool of warm water seems to help the body relax more easily because water creates a sense of weightlessness. The muscles don't have to work so hard to support a laboring woman and there is no pressure on the body to cause local discomfort. This can lead to more relaxation and a sense of reduced pain with the contractions.

Some researchers feel that being in water improves blood flow to all parts of the body, especially the uterus. They have observed that a laboring woman's blood pressure may be lower if she soaks in a tub of warm water. They also feel that improved blood flow may protect the baby against fetal stress. Because being more relaxed and more comfortable lowers stress hormones caused by labor pain, some researchers have found that labor may be somewhat shorter if warm water immersion is used. Other researchers have not found any great difference in the length of labor.

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