• If your waters have been broken for longer than 18 hours.
• If meconium (baby’s bowel motion) is present in the waters.
• If you have an infection e.g Hepatitis B.
• If you have a high temperature or diarrhoea.
• If the baby is distressed or needs close watching.
• If you have a past history of any birth problems.
• If your caregiver recommends you leaving the pool. You can discuss this with her at the time.

Why Babies Don't Breathe Underwater
One of the myths surrounding water birth is the fear of the baby drowning. This fear is
unsupported by current research which has shown that babies do not breathe underwater. In
utero a term baby breathes approximately 40% of the time and this is not merely a practice for
extra uterine life. Forty-eight hours or so before the onset of labour, fetal breathing stops
probably due in part to a secondary rise in levels of prostaglandin E2. This rise may be due to
the release of prostaglandin E2 by the placenta and membranes into the fetal circulation and
is thought to prevent a baby inhaling water. The larynx acts as a valve during fetal breathing
movements (aided by respiratory muscles) preventing the intake of amniotic fluid. If any fluid
makes contact with the larynx, the fetal dive reflex is triggered and any fluid swallowed. This
process is further supported by the large number of chemoreceptors found in the larynx which
is thought to help the baby determine which fluids can be inhaled and which can be
swallowed. In other words, the baby can recognise that water should be swallowed and not
inhaled. In addition, the stimulus to breathe is thought to occur when receptors on the baby’s
facial skin, contained in the trigeminal area, are triggered by the passage of air on the face as
the baby is bought to the surface after birth.