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Water birth
By Annette Campbell Years before Lisa Magnani was ever pregnant or had even met her husband Brett, she knew how she wanted to give birth. "The very first time I heard of water births was when I was much younger and happened to read something about them," she recalls. "I was very impressed and fascinated by them. Anyway, that had obviously stuck in my head, so when Brett and I saw the video at the birthing centre that explained all our options for delivery, I knew this was how I wanted to bring our babies into the world." Lisa, 40, and Brett, 41, now have three happy, healthy and gorgeous children — Marcello, five, Luce, nearly three, and Mila, two months. And all of them were water births in the Birthing Centre at Sydney's Royal Hospital for Women, Randwick. "They were all wonderful experiences and I think we got the best of both worlds," says Lisa. "I would never have chosen a home birth, because I've always felt that if something went wrong, I wouldn't want to be even 10 minutes from a hospital. So this way, I felt I had the control of a home environment, without the risk of being far away from a hospital." Lisa explains that Brett was with her throughout each of the deliveries, quite literally by her side ... in the bath! "Brett was very much the director!" she smiles. "He was so good and knew what I needed and when. I moved from a special mat on the floor to the shower and then to a bathtub for the delivery. "The first time he was in front of me, so he saw Marcello's head come out. For the next two births he sat behind me, supporting my back. "The temperature of the water in the bath needs to be comfortable, but not too hot. And when the baby is born, I just felt like it was a more gradual transition from one watery environment, the womb, to another. It just seemed to be more gentle than landing straight into the big, cold world. "Luckily for us, there were no complications with any of our bubs. And I believe the warm water of the bath helped my pain levels, too ... that sold it for me!" How safe are water births? "Research shows there is no difference between water births and land births, in terms of babies' outcomes," explains Tess Back, midwife at Sydney's Royal Hospital for Women. "About 40 percent of the deliveries here are water births, so it's quite a popular choice. "Throughout the delivery, the baby continues to receive its blood and oxygen supply from the umbilical cord. What stimulates a baby to take its first breath is the cool air on its face. "So in the situation of a water birth, the baby is still in a warm, watery environment like the womb and therefore doesn't begin to breathe until its head is out of water, which is immediately after the entire body is delivered. "Even for a 'normal' birth on land, a baby won't usually start to breathe until their body is delivered because until then, it can't inflate its lungs." ~~~start life with a
midwife~~~
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