Effects of underwater birth on the newborn

Abstract

In a recently published comment on a systematic review published in the Cochrane Database dealing with immersion in water during labor and birth, the focus was on the benefits for pregnant women. These would include reduction of the need to use epidural/spinal analgesia, reduction of the duration of the first stage of labor, decreased need for episiotomies and higher level of satisfaction with the birth experience. However, the effects on the newborn relating to underwater birth also need to be taken into consideration. Reports on underwater births have suggested that specific complications may occur in newborns, due to aspiration of water, such as: respiratory distress, blood dilution, hyponatremia, convulsions, hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy and lung infection. Umbilical cord rupture could also occur.2 The concept of water birth presupposes that delivering a baby underwater will free the baby from the shock of gravity. Also, water birth should represent a more gentle transition from intrauterine to extrauterine life, and a warm bath serves as an imitation of the weightlessness experienced during the early embryonic stages. It is necessary to carry out randomized controlled trials that would determine whether underwater birth is an exotic mode of delivery that exposes the newborn or the mother to an unnecessary risk or whether it is a delivery mode associated with a reduced risk of complications, compared with classical delivery.I MD, PhD. Attending Physician and Senior Associate Scientist,