Our water birth

Throughout this pregnancy and probably the one with Sam also I was tempted to try a water birth.

Unfortunately with Sam the pool rooms were taken which made me want to try it more so this time around, particularly as this is our last baby (unless anything drastic changes in the next few years)!

I was so pleased that when we got to the birthing centre the second time on the 6th May that we had a room with a pool.

I couldn't believe how large the room actually was!

There was the pool, a typical hospital bed, low bed, beanbag, birthing ball and an en suite.

With my stop-start labour  (read previous posts) I actually didn't get a lot of chance to be in the pool. I think I was only in there for 30mins max and most of that time I was pushing Zachary out!

Having said that I was so much more relaxed when in the pool, beforehand I was in agony, grabbing onto James's hands and even trying to bite my arm! I even had some gas and air which I didn't have with either boys!

Once in the warm water the pain, although still there, became more bearable, I no longer used the gas and air ..but still grabbed James's hands!

I still felt the burning sensation when Zachary was making his way out, I know some people say that the pool can help with this. I do wonder if I had been able to be in the pool a little longer whether this may have helped with that.

Zachary seemed to be quite calm when he came out and it was quite nice being sat in the pool a short while before needing to get out.

You do feel slightly 'on show' in the water but I think by that point you don't really care...it's not like the midwives haven't seen it all before!

The hardest part about the water birth is probably the getting in and out! Getting in I was mid contraction and getting out helped my placenta come (due to gravity I guess) at least I didn't need the injection to speed things along, it always feels super gross to me when it comes out!

If you are thinking of a water birth I would definitely recommend it, even if only for the pain relief!

The staff and facilities we had at the white horse birthing centre, GWH were amazing too.