Pro-Home Waterbirth Report

Home/Water Birth An Analysis of the Benefits of Home/Water Birth Like all decisions to be made regarding the birth of a child, there are pros and cons that go along with them. This paper will look at the pros and cons of home/water birth, from a legal, moral, social and ethical perspective, and show why home/water birth with a midwife is a positive, low risk alternative. There are many points to consider when contemplating home/water birth.

The first is that water birth takes place in a spot where many women find the most relaxation, a tub of warm water. "Some moms go through the labor in the water, but get out when it's time for the delivery," according to Pregnancy RX. Other moms deliver right in the water. Either option is available for women choosing water birth.

Some other pros worth mentioning are: First, the baby before it is delivered is used to being in the fluid of the amniotic sac (after all, the baby has spent nine months living and growing in there); it is therefore supposed that being birthed "into an environment like the one he knows" will be much less of a shock, and make the experience that much more gentler for both baby and mother ("The Pros and Cons").

The first point leads right into the second, which is this: less stress for the baby means less stress for the mother: "More and more obstetricians, as well as a number of midwives and birthing centers, feel that decreasing the amount of labor-related stress, helps to reduce fetal complications" ("The Pros and Cons"). Of course, it goes without saying that warm water offers a refreshing, soothing, and energizing alternative to an uncomfortable hospital bed.

Water can also allow the mother to maneuver more easily than would be possible in a bed, since the mother can float in the tub: "The buoyancy allows better circulation of the blood and better contractions of the uterus, making the whole process less painful, and providing a better oxygen flow for the child" ("The Pros and Cons"). Also, by being in the water, a woman can have a greater sense of privacy, which in turn can help alleviate stress.

Of course, there are always cons to any situation, and in the case of water birth, they are that water might get into the woman's blood stream (though unlikely), and that the baby may "gasp for air" while submerged (unlikely again, however) ("The Pros and Cons"). From a legal standpoint Citizens for Midwifery states that "citizens have a right to be involved in maternity care policy" (Citizens for Midwifery). The organization states in its 2009 report that health care providers neglect to care for women who choose hospital births.

"Childbirth is the second most common reason for hospitalization…[and yet] about 90% of births are attended by obstetricians, trained surgical specialists whose expertise is in treating pathology in pregnancy or childbirth; unlike midwives, they have neither the training nor the time to care for and nurture women through a healthy, normal pregnancy and birth" ("Maternity Care").

Likewise, from an ethical standpoint, home birth is recommended: "Economic and liability concerns of hospitals and physicians drive the medical system to intervene unnecessarily in the birth process without regard for proven best birth practices and with no accountability for poor outcomes" ("Maternity Care"). Morally speaking, there is also a "lack of transparency and accountability in [hospital-based] maternity care. (For example, families have no way of learning a doctor's intervention rates in any state. Only two states require publication of individual hospital intervention/procedure rates.)" ("Maternity Care").

Coupled with the exorbitant cost of maternity care in hospitals, such lack of transparency creates a morally hazardous environment where families can feel cheated, disregarded and taken advantage of. The service of a midwife in a home/water birth can change all of that. To emphasize the moral and social implications of midwifery and home/water births, the American Pregnancy Association states that "the term midwife reflects a philosophy of care; one that is directed at the woman and her individual reproductive needs.

A midwife usually offers a variety of options and seeks to eliminate or minimize unnecessary interventions" ("Midwives"). Other positive social implications include the baby's not being removed from the room of the mother, the mother's being able to move, eat and relax in her own home. There is also the fact that with a home/water.