What Are the Risks of Water Births?
There hasn’t been much high-quality research done on water births. Of the studies that have been done, a few cite some rare risks. Others find that water births are just as safe as (if not safer than) bed births. Here is a summary of the potential risks with water birth that studies have identified so far: • In rare cases, the baby may gasp while still in the birthing tub and inhale water. Although it was thought that babies’ primitive reflex prevents them from breathing in until they are exposed to the air, some animal studies suggest that their bodies can override this instinct. Doctors in New Zealand reported in the journal Pediatrics about a handful of cases in which babies breathed birthing pool water into their lungs and nearly drowned. Breathing in water can also lead to too little sodium in the blood — a condition called hyponatremia. However, at least one study that included thousands of water births reported no cases of babies breathing in water. • There have been rare cases
