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HSE National Clinical Guideline

Guideline on the Management of Water Birth HSE Home Birth Service


Topic: Water birth
Document Owner: National Women and Infants Health Programme
National Group: National Women and Infants Health Programme
Effective From: 01 November 2021
The purpose is to guide SECMs on providing safe, evidence-based care to women choosing to use a birthing pool for labour and/or birth. To provide healthy women with uncomplicated pregnancies an alternative form of pain relief during labour and/or birth, whilst ensuring that the safety of the
Guideline on the Management of Water Birth HSE Home Birth Service
PDF, 0.69MB

The SECMs provide holistic intrapartum care to women, and if the woman chooses to birth in water it is integrated into such practice as long as there are no contradictions and the SECM is skilled and competent in facilitating water birth. It is necessary for each SECM to ensure that he/she maintains and regularly updates these skills to provide this service.

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