Because of the air stimulating the baby's face and prompting the baby to breathe, if you suddenly have an urge to stand, (or your caregiver asks you to do so) after the baby's head is born, you cannot re-submerge into the water. All the birth must happen below the water, otherwise it must be completed above it. This is also the case if you are on all fours in the bath but your bottom is not fully under the water, meaning the baby's face may come in contact with the air once it is born.
You can try, with the guidance of your caregiver, to position your bottom further under the water or stand up out of the water for the rest of the birth. You can sit back down holding your baby once the birth is completed and you are waiting for the placenta.
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This image shows a real photo of a baby's head submerged during a water birth. Image 6-74 |
Baby at birth
Healthy babies born into the water do not tend to cry vigorously at birth. They will breathe, their skin will turn pink and they will have good heart rates and reflexes, but often their tone is less (they look more floppy and relaxed) and they usually have a little cry or just look around calmly. Some caregivers may not be used to this, expecting the baby to have the characteristic 'wail'. If there is no meconium in the amniotic fluid, the baby's nose and mouth do not need to be routinely suctioned after a water birth.
Complications
Most hospitals and birth centres exclude women with certain complications from using the bath. These would include premature babies, twins or more (although there are documented cases of twin water births), unusual position of the baby such as breech, (again there are documented cases of breeches being born into water in homebirths), or health complications for the mother or baby that require continuous fetal monitoring.