Waterbirth: A Natural Alternative for Women |
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Karen Shields
Karen McEvoy Shields, CNM, MSN of Gentle Beginnings: Women’s Health and Birth Care, is a Certified Nurse Midwife in solo practice. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Science of Nursing from Rutgers University and her Masters in Science of Nursing and certificate in Midwifery from the University of Pennsylvania. Karen has been on the graduate school faculty in the Midwifery Department of the University of Pennsylvania, as an instructor of intrapartum, postpartum and newborn care. She continues to supervise midwifery students in the clinical setting. She serves as board member of the Southern New Jersey Perinatal Cooperative, and an officer of Family Health Initiatives. She is a member of the American College of Nurse Midwives, and a lifetime member of Waterbirth International. Karen is currently on staff at South Jersey Hospital, Elmer Division. Karen specializes in natural childbirth and waterbirth.
Email: gentlecnm@aol.com
www.waterbirth.org
View all articles by Karen Shields
Many women choose a tub of warm water at the end of the day to find peace, seek comfort, ease pain, and relax. It then becomes an easy transition for these women to consider laboring and/or giving birth in water.
During a waterbirth the woman steps into a deep tub of warm water as she is entering the later stages of active labor. You can see the woman visibly relax into the water as she reclines in the tub, fully immersing her belly. Most times the ability to relax in water assists the woman to rapidly progress to full dilatation. The lights are dim, the room is quiet, her support people are close, and a CD player is playing her favorite relaxing music. She listens to her body as she begins to push out her baby. The baby is gently born into the warm water and lifted to the surface. With the baby’s face out of the water, the new mother floats her baby in the water; all is quiet as the baby looks into the mothers eyes and takes his or her first breath.
If you are interested in finding out more about waterbirth, or would like your baby born into water, please contact:
Karen McEvoy Shields CNM, MSN at Gentle Beginnings,
Women’s Health and Birth Care
389 Harding Hwy (RT 40), Elmer NJ 08318
856-358-1100 • email: gentlecnm@aol.com.
You can find additional information regarding waterbirth at www.birth.org. Also reference: Barbara Harper, 2005. Gentle Birth Choices, (book and DVD) Rochester, Vermont: Healing Arts Press. Lakshimi Bertram, 2000. Choosing Waterbirth, reclaiming the sacred power of birth. Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Roads Publishing Company, Inc.
Odent, Michel, 2004. Birth and Breastfeeding: Rediscovering the Needs of Women during Pregnancy and Childbirth. East Sussex, UK: Clairview Books.
