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Water birthing Water birthing has been used by thousands of mothers as a more peaceful way to bring a child in to existence. It gives the child a smooth entrance from the water-reality they have been in for nine months in the mother’s womb, into the world we know and love. But when dolphins get involved it brings another dimension to giving birth. Let’s look at the traditional method first. Childbirth can be a painful experience for all involved. Babies who are born into a brightly lit, claustrophobic atmosphere with forceps pulling them away from the peace of the Mothers womb, can often leave the baby traumatised. Then gasping for their first breath with the cutting of the umbilical cord seconds later is the second major shock, and all this before it has a chance to connect with the Mother. A whole new practice called ‘rebirthing’ was created by Leanord Orr so that adults can be regressed back to birth to re-live the traumatic experience. It was quickly discovered that a ‘bad’ birth could have consequences that echoed through their whole life. Rebirthing is now very popular and psychologists sometimes refer their patients to rebirthers because there is nothing more they can do for them. If you think about, birth is the most potent experience in life and if it is not facilitated properly the consequences can be devastating. The answer seems to lie in the world’s most abundant natural resource – water. The benefits of spending time in water during pregnancy and for the actual birth far outstrip those of a traditional hospital birth. Water relieves the strain of gravity on the body during pregnancy and lessens the nerve impulses to the brain. It also has a calming effect on the mind. Scientific studies have shown that the reduction of pain is so significant; there is no need for epidurals, drugs, or forceps. Thousands of underwater
births have been carried out in France. When they started doing this,
they had all the emergency supplies and medical instruments laid out
on a table nearby. But they never had any problems for a long time.
In fact, for the entire 20,000 births they did not have one single complication.
It seems that floating in water is the ultimately natural way to give
birth. There are legends and stories of water birthing from the Maoris,
the American Indians near Panama, the Aborigines and the ancient Greeks.
It is also said that some priests in ancient Egypt were born in water.
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