Soon – water birthing option at Gleneagles
Published on: Friday, May 29, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: It's not available yet, but a water birth suite will be the first to be available in the city's specialist Gleneagles Hospital within a year or two for expectant mothers' water birth delivery if they opted for the experience."Water birth is felt by mothers and providers alike, to be the gentlest of gentle births. Warm water cradles you (mother in delivery) and gives you complete freedom to move during the greatest achievement of your life. "The women who have experienced the support and comfort of water for their labours and held their new born babies in their arms speak more than any scientific article or newspaper coverage on the subject."ADVERTISEMENT A spokesperson for the hospital revealed this at its open day event May 24 thronged by hundreds who came for check-ups and other familiarisation visit to various sections of the newest hospital with ample vehicle parking lots.Water birth is deemed to be less painful. Actually, men can also experience "birth labour pains" felt by women when they suffer excruciating pain due to kidney stones, according to kidney specialist Dr Kenneth Wu (not of Gleneagles) during a presentation at the State Library headquarter hosted by its director Wong Vui Yin, recently.The treatment for kidney stones is also by immersion in a tub of water to be blast by sonic energy, akin to fish bombing to break the stones into small fragments so that some can be flushed out by urination, available for East Malaysians in Kuching General Hospital in the past. "For mothers, during water birth, at least part of your labour, delivery, or both happen while you're in a birth pool filled with warm water. It can take place in a hospital, a birthing centre or at home. A doctor, nurse, or midwife helps you through it.ADVERTISEMENT "The use of a birthing pool during the first stage of labour might help ease pain, keeps you from needing anaesthesia and speed up your labour."Some science suggests that the water may lower chances of severe vaginal tearing. And it may improve blood flow to the uterus. Things change during the second part of labour. That's when your cervix is completely dilated and open and you start pushing until the baby is born.
ADVERTISEMENT
Some factors may keep you out of the running for a water birth. You shouldn't try it if:i. You have complications like STD or diabetes.ii. You're having twins or multiples.iii. The baby is in the breech position.iv. The baby is premature.v. You're having a really big baby.vi. You need to be constantly monitored and it can't be done in the tub.vii. You have an infection.Water birth is more than a fad or trend – it is evidence-based practice and has been accepted in US hospitals for more than 25 years. Water immersion in the first stages of labour found evidence of fewer epidurals.It has been widely reported that immersion during the first stage of childbirth reduces the pain of labour. Various theories as to the reason for the reduction of pain include the suggestions that the mother is better able to assume a comfortable position and that the warmth of the water may produce a sedative effect; immersion has been shown to decrease the release of several stress and anxiety-related hormones. A 2014 review comparing immersion during the first stage of labour to regional analgesia found that "immersion during the labour is convenient, comfortable, and has no side effects.""No anaesthesiologist is required, and there is no risk of trauma or the complications of anaesthesia. Thus, water immersion during the labour is a relatively ideal method for providing analgesia during labour." The way water births happen means your baby will be brought to the surface as soon as possible, head first. This will enable him to start breathing soon after the birth. You may be worried that your baby will inhale water with his first breath if he is born in a birth pool. However, healthy babies don't take their first breath until nerves in their face, mouth and nose have been stimulated by contact with air and a change in temperature.Babies born in water are protected by the "dive reflex". Your baby will instinctively close his airway, stopping him from breathing in water. Your doctor or midwife will guide you and will monitor your baby for any potential problems. Most water births go smoothly, but if an emergency were to arise, it may take time to get you out of the pool. Even so, midwives are trained to deal with emergencies. They'll have ways of getting you out as quickly as possible, and getting you the help you need. We are all born out of water from our mother's womb. Writer Eda J LeShan had said:Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
Daily Express Malaysia
"A baby is the beginning of all things – wonder, hope, a dream of possibilities. "In a world that is cutting down trees to build concrete jungles and losing its earth to concrete, babies are almost the only remaining link with the natural world or the living things from which we spring."