Is it possible to have a water birth in hospital?

The use of water for pain relief and for delivery depends on the hospital maternity unit. Some units have their own birthing pool; some have facilities for you to hire a pool and bring it in; some units only have room enough for a pool to ‘labour’ in, and others do not have the facilities for you to bring one in or the structural ability to have one in the unit (the amount of water to use in the pool would be too heavy for the floor to hold). It is therefore a good idea to discuss the option of using the pool to deliver your baby with your midwife antenatally.

Burns E, Kitzinger S (2005) Midwifery Guidelines for the Use of Water in Labour (2nd Edn). The Waterbirth Advisory Group, Oxford Brookes University