About us

Dr Sarah Buckley (2016) has taught us what we need to help our birthing hormones: ‘The hormones involved with having a baby are the same hormones involved with making a baby, and we need the same conditions (you guessed it!) – private, safe, and unobserved! “

A bathtub or birthing pool can be perceived as a kind of universe of its own for the woman giving birth, a private sphere where the conditions for privacy, security and self-determination are promoted.

Being weightless in water facilitates body movement and provides greater freedom to adopt varied positions: ‘Women report feeling safe, undisturbed and private, and birth in positions they feel instinctively drawn to.’ (Pilley Edwards, 2019)

Being in motion can in itself have a pain-relieving effect. Movement, and upright positions (often facilitated by the aforementioned weightlessness) also benefit the birthing process, including by allowing the pelvis to widen.

Oxytocin, our calming hormone, makes the uterus work (ache), while activating the brain’s reward system and reducing both stress and pain.

Touching the skin, the body’s largest sensory organ, is very conducive to the release of oxytocin. In the bath, the whole body is touched at the same time; the water embraces, touches and warms – a combination that often leads to great comfort, increased relaxation and immediate pleasure (something most people who have been immersed in a freshly filled bath can relate to).

Research shows that bathing during childbirth reduces the need for other pain relief and there are many benefits to enjoying the water during the various stages of the birth process.