The keyword that defines our approach to design is ‘Active’.
If we look up the definition of ‘Active Birth’ we get, “Childbirth during which the mother is encouraged to move around freely and assume any position which feels comfortable”.
Founder and Director Keith Brainin spent 17 years as co-director of the Active Birth Centre in London with world famous author, educator and childbirth activist Janet Balaskas where he met water birth pioneer Michel Odent, Sheila Kitzinger and many other midwives and childbirth experts.
The knowledge and understanding gained from this formative experience has enabled us to design water birth pools that uniquely fulfil the needs of labouring women enabling them to have a better experience of labour and birth.
Freedom of movement combined with the relaxing effects of warm water and release of oxytocin significantly increases the possibility of a physiological labour and natural active birth.
We’ve spent decades observing the way that mothers move in our pools and considered how to best serve their needs.
Our passion for excellence has led us to study ergonomic design theory and to work closely with mothers, midwives, health and safety and manual handling experts.
Active Birth Pools provide optimum support for mothers in the range of upright positions natural to labour and birth.
They can hold onto the recessed handgrips or use the wrap around, bullnose-shape rim for support as the they move around the pool to explore and find the most beneficial upright positions.
Features such as the Labour Support Seat, Safety Seat and Lumbar Support create additional possibilities for mothers to explore and find the most comfortable and beneficial positions.
The design of our pools allows partners to sit in comfort and get really close to the mother.
The intimacy that couples experience with our pools is unique. No other pools allow partners to be so close without actually getting in the water.
The support thats provided both physically and emotionally has many benefits, and is key to helping mothers cope with pain and progress to experiencing physiological labour and natural birth.
Mothers simply tell us that, ‘they love our pools’.
They are actively encouraged to move freely and naturally.
They instinctively interact with the pool and find comfort and support wherever they are.
They benefit from complete freedom of movement and unparalleled comfort and therefore have greater probability of experiencing a physiological labour and having a natural active birth.
But, this is not the case with most water birth pools as renown author and educator Sheila Kitzinger OBE wrote in ‘The clock, the bed, the chair’…
“Even a recent innovation, the birth pool, does not always permit free movement.
In theory, a pool allows a woman, supported by water, to move unencumbered.
Or so it might be thought.
Though published research often refers to mobility as an advantage of being in a pool, some pools are elaborate constructions with seats, handgrips and foot-rests, and movement in them is restricted.”
The pool dictates the position the mother should be in by placing her in a semi-recumbent posture with hand holds and foot rests to fix the arms and legs.
Mothers are positioned in the classic lying back with legs wide-open position but happen to be immersed in water.
The seats in these water birth pools are typically tilted backwards.
The mother is immobilised in a position with her pelvis tilted upwards resulting in her pelvic outlet being up to 30% smaller.
This puts pressure on the sacrum which flexes upward, into a curved position that restricts the diameter of the pelvic outlet inhibiting the baby’s descent.
The birth canal is placed in an “uphill” orientation, forcing the mother to push upward against gravity to give birth to her baby.
These seats and moulded fittings greatly reduce the space the mother has to move in and restricts her ability to use the positions most beneficial.
The benefits of labouring in water are largely negated.
The possibility of a physiological labour and natural birth is greatly reduced.”
