Waterbirth Controversy: a human rights debate

Women who wish to give birth in the water are being resisted by traditional medical communities, resulting in Human Rights conflict

Dispute between mothers-to-be who wish to give birth in water, and medical professionals who disagree with the practice of waterbirth has caused uproar by Human Rights activists.

This highly controversial case was one of the topics discussed at a three-day conference called ‘Under the Western Skies’ in late September. The enlightening conference hosted by Mount Royal University allows attendees to choose from a wide variety of speeches, and as a whole looks to discuss environmental issues, sustainability, and the incorporation of eco-health in and among societies.

Susan Jacoby - a professor at Mount Royal University for the bachelor of Midwifery and Nursing studies - says that waterbirth is the best way for women to relieve pain and acquire comfort, especially when the decision has been made not to take drugs for pain relief.

According to Jacoby’s research, one benefit of water birth is that it provides women with buoyancy, and counteracts the effects of gravity, making one feel lighter.

“When you’re in your last month of pregnancy, you just feel really heavy and if you can get in the water, you’re weightless so it makes it easier for the mother to be able to change positions, which then lessens the pressure on the uterus,” said Jacoby.

Not only does water birth allow women to experience anti-gravity, but it also reduces what Jacoby described as a “fear-tension-pain cycle” that women go through when they’re in labour. Labour causes increased levels of cortisol in the brain, also known as the stress-hormone.

Waterbirth alleviates stress and anxiety allowing women to stretch and move more freely, which in turn decreases the mother’s chance of acquiring vaginal lacerations.

However, a statement was released by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists that caused many waterbirth programs to shut down their access “The safety and efficacy of immersion in water during childbirth should only be allowed within the context of an appropriately designed clinical trial,” was the statement by ACOG, read by Jacoby.

A small study was also conducted to disprove the benefits of giving birth in the water, which Jacoby said was too small in its sample-sizes to be truly accurate.

The study said that the risks associated with giving birth in water are the following: water drowning, higher chances of contracting HIV if the mother is HIV positive, pneumonia, respiratory distress syndrome and more.

Case-controlled examinations were conducted after the flawed study, which found no causal links between water birth and the risks claimed.

To de-stigmatize the mechanism of labouring a child in water, Jacoby believes that there need to be more studies monitoring waterbirth, with larger samples for conclusion.

“If women are choosing to give birth in the water, then who can deny them their right to have a waterbirth?” said Jacoby.

Women are often directed about what they should be doing with their bodies by other people, when in fact, a woman’s body belongs to her, and her alone. Therefore, women should be able to choose the means by which they give birth, and options should be more available to women all over the world. Let’s strive to give women the power of choice, and to exercise their right.