More options for waterbirth in Scotland
May 27, 2008
With 80 per cent of women at Montrose now having a waterbirth and the pools in Arbroath increasing in popularity, it is interesting to see signs of progress in other areas of Scotland where waterbirth has not previously been available.
A birthing pool was installed at Caithness General Hospital in Wick in March following local fundraising efforts, while Stirling Royal Infirmary's pool will be ready at the end of May. Student midwives spearheaded that fundraising drive with events including paddling canoes along the Forth. The Dundee Community Maternity Unit at Ninewells Hospital, due to open in September, will have two pools, and midwives in Skye are reported to be looking into getting a birthing pool installed.
Montrose user representative Avril Nicoll carried out a survey of all NHS areas in Scotland in 2006. Each NHS Board area's waterbirth total for 2005 ranged from 0 per cent to 3.8 per cent of all births. In writing up her findings for NCT New Digest Avril concluded: "firstly, that waterbirth in Scotland is extremely rare, and secondly that genuine access to waterbirth is largely a postcode lottery – with very long odds."
In 2006 the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Royal College of Midwives produced a joint statement on waterbirth which said: “All healthy women with uncomplicated pregnancies at term should have the option of water birth available to them and should be able to proceed to a water birth if they wish” (p.3). Avril hopes to repeat the survey at some point to see how much progress has been made in making this a genuine option for women in Scotland.
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