Water birth
childbirth that occurs in water
Water birth is childbirth that occurs in water, usually a birthing pool. It may include the use of water for relaxation and pain relief during the first stage of labour, birth into water in the second stage of labour, and the delivery of the placenta in the third stage of labour.
Benefits
Water birth was associated with more positive childbirth and with more relaxed, less painful experience. A 2018 Cochrane Review of water immersion in the first stages of labour found evidence of fewer epidurals and few adverse effects but insufficient information regarding giving birth in water. A moderate to weak level of evidence indicates that water immersion during the first stage of childbirth reduces the pain of labour. Several studies, including a 2018 Cochrane Review found that immersion at this stage reduces the use of epidural analgesia. However, there is no clear evidence on the benefits of immersion for the second stage of labour, namely delivery (sometimes called full water birth). There is no evidence of increased adverse effects for immersion during the first or second stages of labour.
Water birth may offer perineal support for the mother, and some theorize that this may decrease the risk of tearing and reduce the use of episiotomy. Water birth was also associated with higher rates of breastfeeding initiation in the delivery room.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1929914. The Library of Congress control number is sh85139613. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2018.
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This entry incorporates text from “Water birth” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.