Water births are safe for both mother and baby, study says

Water births are safe for both mother and baby, study says READ MORE: 'Clear benefits' of water births for mums and babies, study claims By Kate Pickles Health Editor For The Daily Mail Published: 09:20 BST, 11 June 2024 | Updated: 09:51 BST, 11 June 2024 e-mail View comments Water births do not increase the risk of complications for mother or baby, NHS research shows. Women with low-risk pregnancies are as likely to experience healthy births in a supervised pool as those on beds, they found. Experts say it could have implications for thousands of women each year who use birthing pools as a form of pain relief during labour.

The study analysed more than 87,000 records who used a pool during labour across 26 NHS organisations in England and Wales between 2015 and 2022. Researchers explored the rate of baby deaths, severe tears suffered by women during childbirth, as well as the number of babies who needed antibiotics or help with breathing on a neonatal unit after birth. Researchers claim the risks of complications were no higher among water births compared with births out of water In the UK around 60,000 women a year use a birth pool or bath for pain relief in labour, but some midwives and doctors were concerned that water births could carry extra risks.

But the new research, published in obstetrics and gynaecology journal BJOG, found these were no higher among water births compared with births out of water. Julia Sanders, a professor of clinical Midwifery at Cardiff Universi.