More expectant moms choosing water births at local hospital

Found on the 9news website

Originally published February 8, 2010

DENVER - What was once considered alternative is now becoming more mainstream: One Denver hospital is finding more expecting mothers choosing the option of water births.

At the University of Colorado Hospital, a big free-standing Jacuzzi tub is set up and filled up in a room in the birth center. It is about three feet deep.

Moms-to-be, like Jessica Breese, say it is a great option to help manage pain and discomfort during a natural child birth.

"To me being in a confined tub made it really secure, it kind of made it my cave," Breese said. "I felt protected and left to do my own thing."

She and her husband say there is also a lot of peace of mind having this natural option in a hospital.

Patients are coming from as far away as Nebraska for the option.

"People are seeking it and wanting it so they are willing to make the trip to our practice," Jessica Anderson of the University of Colorado Hospital, said. "It speeds up their labor and it is a more peaceful and gentle birth for both mom and baby."

The moms work with a midwife during the delivery.

University of Colorado Hospital says it is the only hospital in the metro area offering water births in its birth center.

It says that other hospitals in Colorado and around the country are now looking to its program as a model.

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