Water births offer ‘clear benefits’ for parents and newborns, says new study

Pain, heavy bleeding and epidurals were all significantly reduced, researchers found

Researchers analysed 36 studies involving over 150,000 women to reach their conclusion (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Water births offer “clear benefits” for healthy parents and their newborns, according to new findings published in the open access journal BMJ Open.

Researchers analysed 36 previous studies, involving more than 150,000 women, to conclude that a water birth was “as safe as standard care for healthy mums and their newborns”.

Compared with standard care, water births significantly reduced the use of epidurals, injected opioids (pain-relieving drugs) and episiotomies (a surgical incision of the perineum and the posterior vaginal wall to aid birth).

Pain and heavy bleeding were also reduced, while parent satisfaction levels increased.

As well as there being no difference in the rate of caesareans, water births were also found to result in fewer medical interventions and complications during and after the birth compared with standard care.

The findings did reveal that there were more instances of umbilical cord breakage among water births.

However, this rate was still low, with breakage occurring in 4.3 per 1,000 births in water compared with 1.3 per 1,000 births with standard care.

Researchers suggested that this may be a consequence of pulling on the umbilical cord when the newborn is brought up out of the water.

A water birth involves using a birthing pool to achieve relaxation and pain relief.

The pregnant person either exits the pool for the birth, enabling the newborn to emerge into the air, or remains in the birthing pool for the birth, bringing the newborn to the surface to start breathing.

The studies, which were published between 2000 and 2021, included a range of interventions and outcomes such as induced labour, artificial breaking of waters, use of epidurals, admission to intensive care, and breastfeeding.

“Water immersion provides benefits for the mother and newborn when used in the obstetric setting, making water immersion a low-tech intervention for improving quality and satisfaction with care,” researchers stated.

“Water immersion can significantly increase the likelihood of an intact perineum and reduce episiotomy, an intervention which offers no perineal or foetal benefit, can increase postnatal pain, anxiety, and impact negatively on a woman’s birth experience,” they added.

Researchers concluded that water immersion is an “effective method to reduce pain in labour, without increasing risk.”

According to the National Childbirth Trust (NCT), around 10 per cent of pregnant people in the UK give birth in pools, but nearly 20 per cent use water for pain relief.

Water births started gaining in popularity when the Department of Health recommended them for pain relief in 1993.