Warm Water (Bath or Birthing Pool)
Many women and birthing people find being in a birth pool (or a warm bath in early labour) extremely helpful in labour and birth. It reduces pressure and perceived pain, allows supported freedom of movement, and is just generally found to be excellent at helping you relax and cope!
If you plan to use a birth pool in a hospital setting, do make sure you have backup plans (as with any birth preferences) in case there isn’t one available on the day, as not all rooms will have a pool. For birthing at home, make sure you rent or buy your pool well in advance of your estimated due date so you’re ready to go, and have a trial run so you know how to set it up and that all your attachments work before you actually need them!
Birthing in a bath is not recommended due to reasons like it being harder to control the water temperature, there not being a safe depth of water to keep all of baby submerged while birthing (if baby hits air they may be stimulated to breathe, which is obviously risky if they’re then re-submerged), and lack of space for you to move around. That being said, many women do choose to birth in their bath regardless (or do so accidentally if labour progresses quickly!).
Birth Pool Hire: The Water Stork
Birth Pool Hire & Purchase: Birth Pool in a Box
All links to external suppliers are just suggestions based on word-of-mouth recommendations, and are non-affiliate links.