--- title: Water Births Not Safe Enough to Recommend, Say Experts description: A new report in the journal Pediatrics examines the claims by natural birth advocates that using water as part of labor and delivery—a practice that became popular in the 1990s—can relieve and even shorten labor symptoms canonical: https://time.com/31872/water-births-not-safe-enough-to-recommend-say-pediatric-experts/ author: Alice Park article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-03-20T16:13:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T06:52:20.978Z article:section: Health og:title: Water births too experimental to recommend, say experts og:description: A new report in the journal Pediatrics examines the claims by natural birth advocates that using water as part of labor and delivery—a practice that became popular in the 1990s—can relieve and even shorten labor symptoms og:url: https://time.com/31872/water-births-not-safe-enough-to-recommend-say-pediatric-experts/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Water births too experimental to recommend, say experts twitter:description: A new report in the journal Pediatrics examines the claims by natural birth advocates that using water as part of labor and delivery—a practice that became popular in the 1990s—can relieve and even shorten labor symptoms twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Water Births Not Safe Enough to Recommend, Say Pediatric Experts > Sponsored content. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators.  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Mar 20, 2014 4:13 PM UTC  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent Mar 20, 2014 4:13 PM UTC Natural birth advocates claim that using water as part of labor and delivery, in a tub or hot tub, can relieve and even shorten labor symptoms, and that it’s good for the baby. Water births became popular in the 1990s, according to a European study. But a new report in the journal _Pediatrics_ looks into whether these claims have any validity. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Committee on Fetus and Newborn and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) Committee on Obstetric Practice examined the available data on water births, distinguishing between early and late stage labor. **MORE:** [Explaining the Latest Numbers on Home Births](http://time.com/12080/explaining-the-latest-numbers-on-home-births/) In the first stages of labor, immersion in water can help mothers feel more relaxed and in control of the process, and was associated with less use of epidurals and other forms of anesthesia, and a shorter labor. But water wasn’t associated with any significant drop in perineal trauma or tears, or a drop in the need for assisted vaginal deliveries or Cesarean sections. Giving birth underwater was correlated with some risks as well, such as infections in both mom and infant, problems with the infant’s ability to regulate body temperature, and umbilical cord ruptures, which can lead to hemorrhaging and shock. Statistics on how many women in the U.S. choose to use water immersion aren’t available yet, since the practice isn’t measured as part of routine birth statistics, but home births are on the rise. The data follow recent studies on alternative birthing practices that [show midwife-assisted home births can be more deadly](http://time.com/4653/home-births-lead-to-more-deaths/) than midwife-assisted hospital births, and led the AAP and ACOG to [recommend delivering in a hospital birthing center](http://healthland.time.com/2013/04/29/pediatricians-new-home-birth-guidelines-rattle-some-midwives/). If women want to deliver at home, the groups encouraged them to seek midwives certified by the American Midwifery Certification Board. **MORE:** [Pediatricians Issue New Home-Birth Guidelines — and Rattle Some Midwives](http://healthland.time.com/2013/04/29/pediatricians-new-home-birth-guidelines-rattle-some-midwives/) Now the committees conclude that giving birth underwater should be considered an experimental procedure, since the studies investigating its safety and benefits aren’t large and robust enough to sanction or dismiss the practice. The experts also note that given the small number of studies on immersion, it’s hard to determine whether other factors related to the using water during labor and delivery are affecting the outcomes in both the first and second stages of labor, such as how often the mother is examined. They advise that expectant moms interested in using water-based methods should use it only for the early stages of delivery, and ensure that their birthing facility maintains strict protocols for keeping the tubs clean and have established programs for monitoring the labor as it progresses. Any deliveries occurring under water should be done in the context of a clinical trials in which mothers are fully informed of the potential risks and benefits. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/31872/water-births-not-safe-enough-to-recommend-say-pediatric-experts/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/31872/water-births-not-safe-enough-to-recommend-say-pediatric-experts/"},"headline":"Water Births Not Safe Enough to Recommend, Say Pediatric Experts","datePublished":"2014-03-20T16:13:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:52:20.978Z","description":"A new report in the journal Pediatrics examines the claims by natural birth advocates that using water as part of labor and delivery—a practice that became popular in the 1990s—can relieve and even shorten labor symptoms","url":"https://time.com/31872/water-births-not-safe-enough-to-recommend-say-pediatric-experts/","keywords":["birth"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alice Park","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/alice-park/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/31872/water-births-not-safe-enough-to-recommend-say-pediatric-experts/","name":"Water Births Not Safe Enough to Recommend, Say Pediatric Experts"}}]}] ```