March 1, 2006
Birthing wave
Midwife talks about benefits while in water
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Six expecting or new mothers discussed water births last Monday evening during a meeting of the Birth Network.
Held at the Traverse Area District Library, the meeting also drew one attentive husband, who along with his wife was curious about this low-tech approach to birthing that can make labor less painful and birthing easier.
"I've had two babies, one labored with in the water and one I had in the water," said Melissa Waterstripe, a Traverse City resident eager to share about her experiences. "I'm passionate about water birth and just birth in general."
Local midwife Kathi Mulder, whose practice specializes in home births, spoke about the process of, safety, benefits and contraindications of giving birth in water. She distributed information and guidelines for water birth for the group to discuss.
In 12 years of practice, both in northwest Michigan and the Lansing area, Mulder has attended 62 water births, not counting many women who labor in water.
"Most of the time, if the woman is in the water during labor and she doesn't want to get out, that's where she has the baby" she noted. "Water birth is natural birth because if you're on medications or on a constant fetal monitor, you can't have a water birth."
This facet of her practice, which is not uncommon world wide, began while attending a young student at Michigan State University. This woman had read a lot about water birthing and was determined to try it. She purchased an oversized tub from Farm and Fleet and successfully had her baby in there.
"It was a great experience and she's since moved to California and gave me the tub," said Mulder. "I still have it, but now I have the Cadillac of tubs: it's bigger and has a heater -- that's the favored tub."
Attendees also discussed the 'ewww' factor of giving birth in a tub of water, covering practical matters of safety and hygiene as well as personal preferences. They also discussed hospital policies and in-room tub sizes as well as how a doctor's and midwive's approach and training determines whether they allow water birth.
"I think I can say that most care providers are not comfortable catching babies underwater, they don't have a lot of experience with it," Mulder noted. "[Practitioners] in Ann Arbor and Lansing do it and in other states, hospitals actually have birth tubs in the rooms."
Mulder said that the most common question she has is how the baby breathes after being born under water. Usually there is a delay of minutes between the head being born and the rest of the baby.
"Babies don't breathe until the lungs are born into the air," she said, noting that the umbilical cord is still working as well. "They come up, are placed on their mother's chest, and they breathe and the lungs inflate and then they start to function."
Discussing facets of natural birthing is the foundation of the non-profit Birth Network, which began last October. Founded by two local Doulas -- or birth assistants -- the Birth Network's mission is to educate women on childbirth practices and options to make them aware of things their doctors might not tell them. The concept revolves around the Mother Friendly Childbirth Initiative promoted by the Foundation for Birth Network, a growing organization in Michigan, Ohio and Colorado.
"The goal of the Mother Friendly Childbirth Initiative is to lower certain interventions, like cesarean sections or routine episiotomies," said Julie Harris, a certified Doula who has a practice called Inner Strength. "This is also a more friendly and fun place for women, who don't have to wait until their childbirth education class to network with other pregnant women."