The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
THE University Maternity Hospital in Limerick is one step closer to providing water births as it plans to introduce a water immersion service for labour by the end of May. Although it will not be offering water births, the new immersion service will be offered for the first time in Limerick as part of a range of labour supports in the home-birthing room to facilitate natural labour. Although UMHL has said water birthing will not take place at the hospital yet, the facilities provided will bring the hospital closer to providing that service in the future. Currently just one hospital in the country offers a water birthing option – the Coombe in Dublin. This is available to pregnant women presenting between 37 and 42 weeks of pregnancy with no medical, surgical or obstetrical risk factors or complications. At present, the pool at the Coombe is reserved for women who consent to participate in the hospital’s research study, ‘Use of water …
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