water or dry?

[trixipaws]

i'm hoping for another home birth. last time i wanted a water birth and borrowed my girl friend's pool, i was in it thru the second 2 hours of my labour (which i counted as 5 hours) but for the last hour (the pushing bit) i got out, iirc the midwives thought i wasnt progressing or reluctant to push or summink because even in pain delirium i am still neurotic and didnt want to do a poo in the water!

idk whether to bother with it this time? i do remember it helped a lot but still, its gonna really bloody hurt loads either way so i'm thinking i wont bother.

but of course iv nothing to compare it to! has anyone had a water birth and a dry one?! without pain relief? does water alone make THAT much of a difference am i gonna regret not having it? thanx

 

[Manda&Thomas]

i havent had a water birth as i have a fear of water,
but my dry home-birth really wasnt all that bad i did get in a bath at the start but found it did nothing for me.
maybe it depends on the person.

Maybe if your going to worry about pooping in the water its best not to have it as you dont want to start panicing do ou when the time comes to pushing

good luck whatever you choose
xx

 

[T'is a Secret]

I'm hoping for a homebirth, tbh even though I know the benefits of a pool I won't get one. There's the cost, plus you might not get to use it, plus I know I can do it without so it wouldn't really be worth it.

If you found it helped you, do it again. You don't have to deliver in it, just use it as a labouring pool

 

[Nicky_Jones]

I had a dry homebirth last time. The MW recommended have a bath to ease the pain but I couldn't stand it for very long as lieing back for me was agony, I was desperate to get back onto the birthing ball which really helped. Which is why I am considering a water birth at home this time. I was going to ask my MW about it when I have my first appointment tomorrow.

From the pain side of things. There was a point where I thought I had made a huge mistake not getting the extra pain killers (an injection one I think?) from the doctors in advance. My labour was incredibly fast and intense. It got the point where I even started thinking I had made a mistake having a home birth it was so painful. NB the gas an air didn't arrive to too late TBH due to Reading traffic! However it didn't get any worse than that. I went from 3cm to 8cm (I think that is right) in about 30mins!!!! If I realised how fast the labour code have been maybe I wouldn't have paniced so much but the talks we had had in advance about how long labour would go on for made me think it was going to get worse and go on for another 10hrs or so.

 

[trixipaws]

It got the point where I even started thinking I had made a mistake having a home birth it was so painful.

oh i thought that too! right at the end, just before pushing, i regretted the home birth, what i wanted right then was a hospital, general anaesthetic and c-section! LMAO but i think thats just normal probably? its just the pain talking! with hindsight i do NOT regret it at all!

 

[Laura_James&Amber]

Unfortunatly I didn't get my natural birth But the bath and warm water did help a lot in the early stages of my labour (was in slow labour for 5 days) and I found it really relaxing and was probably the only place I could get comfy in! lol
When I was in the full throws of labour I actually wanted to get in the bath at the hospital but couldn't because I had to be constantly hooked up to monitors. Basically what I'm trying to say is I think a water birth is a really good idea, I think you would be much more relaxed, the pain might be the same as a "dry" birth (sorry wasn't sure how to word it! lol) but it might be easier because you might be more comfortable and relaxed which maybe would make the pain easier to deal with IYKWIM? Hope this helps (although it probably hasn't! lol)

 

[lisa282]

Ive had both, dry land with my first and then water with the second. And yes, the water really does make that much difference, or at least it did to me! First time around I was glued to the gas&air, and also had pethidine, but second time with the water, I had a few puffs on the g&a and decided I didnt need it cos the water was relief enough. It also made the pushing bit so much easier IMO, and wouldnt hesitate to do it again x

 

[Chrissy1]

I didnt have a full on dry birth because my daughter was born in the water at home but I can remember when the midwives asked me to get out of the water a couple of times so that they could do an internal examination the contractions were sooooooooo much more painful and I was much more uncomfortable than when I was in the water. I had a slow labour for 2 days (although I don't class contractions every 5 minutes for 2 whole days and nights as slow!!! ) followed by an 'official' 11 hour labour and I spent at least 26 hours of that in the pool. I wasn't too worried about pooing in the water because I'd not eaten much in the previous 48 hours because of the contractions and everything I had eaten I'd thrown back up I still did a tiny bit though but to be honest I really couldn't care less. If I was on a hospital bed I still would have done it and the fact that it was in the water ment that I didn't really know about it anyway. I only found out after.

Judging from the pain of the contractions when I was out of the water there's no way that I would have been able to do it with just G&A unless I had the water to help me through the contractions. When it came to the final throws of pushing I ditched the G&A and just went for it using just breathing and relaxing

 

[Nicky_Jones]

Thanks all very much for there posts (thanks Trixi for posing the question the exact reverse question had been on my mind for a while). I am sold, I definitely want the pool this time round. I asked my MW about it today, and she said they hire them out for £25. So fingers crossed (assuming I can convince hubby!), I will have a home water birth this time around.

 

[beanie]

I desperatley wanted a water birth but wasn't allowed so I went in the bath. However I didn't get the full effect as it was very shallow. I gave birth on the bed so mine was pretty much dry and I had no pain relief. However I wanted to go to hospital to have all the drugs and I also wanted shooting at a few points but I would do it all again.

Next time I will have my water birth!!!!!