EBB 4: Waterbirth and the newborn microbiome
Evidence Based Birth®
Rebecca Dekker
4.3 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 12 January 2018
⏱️ 5 minutes
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Summary
How much research do we have on the microbiome and waterbirth? What does "normal flora" mean, and why is it important? What does the existing research say about waterbirth and the bacteria on a baby's skin? Is there any other research from newborn baths that we can refer to when talking about this issue?
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | In this podcast we're going to talk about water birth and the newborn microbiome. |
| 0:05.0 | Welcome to the Evidence Space Birth Podcast. |
| 0:11.0 | Join us each week as I tackle the evidence |
| 0:14.5 | on another hot topic about childbirth. |
| 0:17.0 | As a reminder, this information is not medical advice. |
| 0:20.5 | See Eviebirth.com. Disclaimer for more details. |
| 0:24.0 | Hi everyone and welcome to today's evidence-based birth podcast. My name is |
| 0:34.6 | Rebecca Decker and I'm a nurse with my PhD and the founder of evidence-based birth |
| 0:39.6 | dot com. Today I have a question from Elizabeth. Elizabeth is pregnant and she asks how do you keep a |
| 0:46.7 | baby's exposure to its mother's microbiome intact during a water birth? Does everything |
| 0:52.2 | get washed off in the water? This is my main |
| 0:54.7 | concern, she says, about birthing in a pool. Well first I do want to point out |
| 0:59.6 | that we have an evidence-based birth article all about water birth. |
| 1:03.4 | Just go to E.Birth.com slash water birth. |
| 1:08.0 | This question is actually answered in that article. |
| 1:10.9 | But because the article contains so much evidence, let me break it down for you right here. |
| 1:15.0 | As far as I know, there's only been one study on the microbiome of babies who are born in the water. |
| 1:21.0 | That is, when the babies are born, as the mother is immersed in a tub of the water. That is when the babies are born as the mother is immersed in a tub of warm water. |
| 1:26.0 | In 2004, researchers swabbed the palate, the top of the mouth, and the ear of newborns immediately after water birth. |
| 1:34.4 | There were 34 babies born after water birth. |
| 1:37.4 | They also included 26 babies who were born on land, |
| 1:40.8 | so they were born in dry air, but their mothers had used a tub prior to the birth. |
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