A pilot project is giving 10 pregnant women in Central Alberta the option of having a water birth in Red Deer, Rocky Mountain House or Rimbey hospitals.
They are the only hospitals in Alberta participating in the water birth trial that provides women the opportunity to give birth in water or use a birthing tub during the labour process to manage pain.
Since the beginning of January, three mothers have used the birthing tubs — two mothers at Rocky Mountain House Health Centre and one at Rimbey Hospital and Care Centre.
At Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre, new plumbing for a birthing tub was installed in the room where births are also induced. The tub will be ready for use on Monday.
Sandi Sebastian, clinical manger of labour, delivery and postpartum care at the Red Deer hospital, said on Wednesday that word is spreading about the new program so the total of 10 water births may happen fast.
“I don’t think it’s going to take long to get to 10. They’ve been waiting for this for a really long time,” Sebastian said about midwives and their patients.
Midwives, who assist women with low-risk births, already perform water births for women who want to give birth at home.
“What is new is it’s coming within the walls of a hospital facility and we can offer women that choice as a model of care so they don’t have to choose between home birth and hospital birth. They can have a water birth within a hospital so they can have access to obstetrical services, an obstetrician, or emergency services instead of a transfer from home to here.”
“We’re excited to be trail blazers.”
The plastic, inflatable tub at each hospital can only be used if the woman has a midwife or a doctor trained in water birth.
The round tub at Red Deer hospital cost $450 and can be used for about 20 births. It’s about 1.4 metres high and 1.6 metres wide and can fit both the mother and father.
Each family must purchase a water birth kit that includes a liner to protect the tub from contaminated water, a mirror, a water hose to fill the tub, and a thermometer to monitor water temperature.
Kits can be bought online or purchased from the hospital’s gift shop for $100.
Red Deer has two midwives who work in the city who are expected to have clients who will want to use the tub.
Alberta Health Services Central Alberta Zone started looking into the option of water births about eight months ago when a Rimbey doctor had a request from one of her patients.
Sebastian said water births aren’t usually done in hospitals because they require the ability to drain the water, a floor that can handle the water weight, and space to set up a tub.
Alberta has also had a shortage of midwives. The province only began providing full coverage for midwifery in 2009.
If the pilot works well, AHS Central Alberta Zone will look at making it a permanent service.
Evaluations will be done by the mothers, midwives and hospital staff involved in the water births.
Funding for the project was made available out of existing labour department funding.
szielinski@www.reddeeradvocate.com