My Bubble Wrapped Birth

If I were putting together a birth plan for another baby, I would look at my options and decide where my baby would be the safest.  That is simple enough, but what is "safest" to me?  I choose water birth with a midwife nearby who is trained in newborn and adult emergency response.  I would choose to be in a place that does not interfere with my natural birth process.   If you have read my birth stories, you know that I have had 3 home water births, and one hospital water birth.  I prefer home because there are no hospital protocols to deal with.  Some could even cause a bleed.  I want to have the cord blood tested immediately after birth as opposed to getting it drawn a few days later.  That's rough.  My motivation is my baby's safety.  So, I would draw from my experience, assess my options, and choose the birth plan that keeps my baby the safest.  The purpose of this blog is to gather and discuss information that would help make this careful decision.

I consider water birth a huge asset to hemophilia carrier moms who want to avoid a c-section. Most hemophilia "experts" recommend that we have scheduled c-sections. Yet, I have searched and searched on this subject and cannot find any proof that a normal, calm, un-intervened birth has ever caused a bleed in a severe hemophiliac. All bleeds I have read about are caused by interventions during labor and delivery. Water birth has so many benefits to mom and baby, but the most important is that the mother is more comfortable. This relaxes her muscles. The warm water makes her stretch much better. The buoyancy of the water makes it much easier to move anywhere at will weightlessly. You naturally ease your baby out. These facts make the birth more gentle on the baby, and isn't that always the goal with a hemophiliac?