Waterbirth
Discover Intuitive Birthing with the Wonders of Water
Feel comforted, relaxed and attuned to your baby during a supported water birth whether you choose to deliver at Our Birthing Center or have a home waterbirth.
What is a Waterbirth?
A waterbirth is when part of your labor, your delivery or both happen while you are immersed in water. Our Birthing Center offers deep, spacious tubs in each of our birthing suites. The tubs can accommodate your partner or support person should you so desire.
While laboring in water and giving birth in water are seen to be relatively new concepts, this practice is older than we realize. The earliest known water birth was in France in 1805. Since then, midwives and doctors have found that the warm water in the bathtub helps the infant transition smoothly from the womb into the world and also encourages skin-to-skin contact between a mother and her newborn.
Now, with modern developments and tried and tested waterbirth practices, you can opt for a waterbirth at a birthing center like ours or have a home waterbirth with everything you need, including expert care, in your own private space.
Why Choose a Waterbirth at Our Birthing Center?
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Gentle
Just like a home waterbirth, water birth at Our Birthing Center allows you to labor and give birth in the most gentle way in the comfort of a luxurious birthing suite. Welcome your baby in a relaxed, stress-free state with love and peace of mind.
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Private
Since water births usually take place with the mother wearing very little clothing, a home waterbirth provides ample privacy for you to feel comfortable and not self-conscious in any way. Private birthing suites at Our Birthing Center have a similar intimate environment that makes you feel as if you’re home with so many features to customize your birthing experience.
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Supported
Be supported by your closest loved ones during labor and delivery as well as professional staff of Our Birthing Center for safety, comfort and peace of mind. Your chosen credentialed providers will provide professional care and support you throughout your birthing journey.
Some of the Benefits of Waterbirth
Whether you choose a home waterbirth or a supported waterbirth at a professional birthing center, these are the many wonderful benefits you can expect:
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Warm water is soothing, gentle, comforting and relaxing. This can help you feel more in control and lower anxiety. As the laboring woman relaxes physically, she is able to relax mentally with a greater ability to focus on the birth process.
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The water seems to reduce stress-related hormones, allowing the mother’s body to produce endorphins, which serve as pain inhibitors.
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Floating in water helps you move around more easily than in bed.
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Many mothers claim that natural water births lessen the pain of labor and delivery, thanks to the buoyancy of the water. This leads to less use of pain medication and drugs.
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The water can help to improve back pain and the feeling of pressure, especially when you are fully dilated.
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Water causes the perineum to become more elastic and relaxed, reducing the incidence and severity of tearing and the need for an episiotomy and stitches.
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Women who birth in water also report higher birth satisfaction. Patients have been known to describe their waterbirth as “quite pleasurable” or “very pleasurable and fulfilling.” Most people were in favor of having another waterbirth in the future.
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When asked to describe their feelings when they entered the tub, mothers used the words relaxation, relief, pain relief, warmth, buoyancy, control, and calming. When people who had given birth before were asked to describe how their waterbirth was different from previous births, mothers said they felt more in control, and that the waterbirth was more relaxing and less painful.
Frequently Asked Questions
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You can wear what feels comfortable for you, keeping in mind that you will be in what is essentially a large bath. Many women choose to wear a bikini or tankini. Others choose to just wear a (sports) bra. You can wear a t-shirt or tank-top if you want to be a little more covered. Some women prefer to be naked. Whatever you feel comfortable with wearing on your top half is fine. It is best to take your bottom half off so that the midwife can see what is happening as you approach birth. However, if you wish to leave your bottoms on until that stage, that is fine too.
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Yes! Even if a water birth is part of your birth plan, if you change your mind and don’t want to go in the tub, or if you are in the tub and decide you don’t like it, you may get out. Don’t be worried about changing your mind. The staff is happy to support you as long as you and the baby are safe. At times, your Midwife may ask you to get out of the tub if something seems off with the fetal heart rate, if your temperature goes up too high, etc. The ultimate goal is a healthy delivery. Even if you don’t end up delivering in the tub, you may have found great benefit from laboring in the tub. At Our Birthing Center, we also offer sit-down showers as another form of hydrotherapy.
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Water birth is best suited to low-risk women where an uncomplicated delivery is anticipated (low blood pressure, over 37 weeks gestation, baby with a head down, single baby, etc.). Since only low-risk patients are allowed at Our Birthing Center, if your Midwife cleared you to deliver at OBC you are almost certainly a candidate for waterbirth. Of course, you should always talk to your Midwife to understand the full risks and reality of your choices.
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For anyone seeking a water birth center in NYC, Essex County, Morris County, Union County or Hudson County, NJ, Our Birthing Center offers the birthing experience you’ve always dreamed of.
The Patient Experience
