Infection

There may be a risk of infection in a birth pool. As you push out your baby, you may open your bowels. This is entirely normal, and debris will be quickly cleaned out by your midwife. But it does introduce the risk of infection. However, birth in air is not sterile either and most babies will take on organisms from their mother's bowel during birth.

Research hasn't found any difference in rates of infection between women who give birth in water or in air. Hospitals have strict rules about cleaning pools after each water birth. They do regular checks to ensure that the pool is left hygienic after each use.

Unpleasant environment

You may feel uncomfortable about accidentally opening your bowels as your baby enters the world. The idea of the midwife having to sieve debris out of the water to keep it clean may be unpleasant to you. But remember that midwives are quite used to this. You need not worry on their account.

Disappointment with pain relief

You may find that being in a birth pool does not make contractions less painful. If your plan was to spend most of your labour in water, it could be demoralising to have to get out so that you can have drugs, such as an epidural, for pain relief.

Monitoring and emergencies

You may have to stay out of the pool if your labour develops complications. Having to get out of the water and change the course of your labour may be upsetting for you. You will be asked to leave the pool if:

monitoring your baby's heartbeat shows that there is a problem

your labour is progressing very slowly

you start bleeding during labour

your blood pressure goes up

your baby's first poo (meconium) is detected in your waters

the pool water gets very dirty

you feel faint or drowsy

If you are having your water birth in hospital, you may find there restrictions on how you can use the pool. See our article on planning your water birth for more information.

Most water births go smoothly, but if an emergency does arise, it may take time to get you out of the pool. Even so, midwives are trained to deal with emergencies. They'll have ways of getting you out as quickly as possible, and getting you the help you need.

What are the cons of giving birth in water?

Baby starting to breathe under water

You may be worried that your baby will inhale water with his first breath if he is born in a birth pool. However, healthy babies have way of protecting themselves, called a "dive reflex". They instinctively close their airway, stopping them from breathing in water.

Your midwife will also monitor your baby during your labour to make sure he's getting enough oxygen. There is no evidence that babies born in water suffer from breathing problems any more than babies born in air.

Experts believe that babies are only at risk of inhaling water if:

they are startled during the birth so that they try to breathe air

their head is brought to the surface before the rest of their body is born, overriding their dive reflex

their oxygen supply via the placenta is affected in some way

Your midwive will know she needs to be "hands off" as your baby is being born, so that she doesn't interfere with his dive reflex. She'll guide you to make sure you don't bring your baby's head to the surface before the rest of his body is born.

Risk to the umbilical cord

The way water births happen means your baby will be brought quickly to the surface, head first. This will enable him to start breathing as soon as possible. Because of this swift movement, there have been a few cases where the umbilical cord has snapped.

A snapped cord is not a life-threatening emergency for a properly trained midwife. But midwives and mothers are now advised to take care not to pull on the cord as they gently lift the baby from the water, just in case the cord is shorter than normal.

6\)

How to Make Sure Your Party Guests Have a Good Time

Nobody wants to host a party where the guests are bored, upset, or not having a good time. This should help if you are hosting a teen party.

Steps

1

When planning a guest list, make sure that if you are sending out invitations, you politely ask your guests not to discuss the party with others unless they know that they're invited. Nobody wants to have someone rub it in their face that they weren't invited.

2

Don't plan a minute-by-minute or any other type of schedule for the party. Having an every-minute filled party will bore your guests, and when having teens around 12-14, they will become restless and not want to listen.

3

Plan a few, maybe 2 or 3 events for the party. Space them out, and if you can, get small prizes for winners. This way, you will give your guests time to mingle and talk, but not enough to get bored. "Fruit Salad," "Charades," and silly dance songs are always good ways of getting people involved.

4

Do not put out boatloads of food. Good parties can still throw out couple of snacks, dinner, and some sweets for dessert. Don't set out a table full of chips, candy, pop, etc.

5

Some of the best foods to serve are fruit platters, a bowl of chips, and mainly pizza for dinner. To branch out on dinner, also try making hot dogs, or putting out hamburgers, and all the toppings. Sandwiches, sausage rolls, a cheese platter, and pasta salad are also good alternatives.

6

The best drinks to serve in order for your guests not to dehydrated are pretty simple. Most teens do not get enough water, but they'll love flavored water. Try putting out some bottles of flavored water and normal spring water, and also try a pitcher of cold water with sliced oranges, limes, and lemons in it. Don't forget some pop, though. You don't need to be everyone's mother and make them all health nuts. To be extra special, make virgin cocktails with fruit juices, pop, and grenadine. Much more civilized.

7

Put the food somewhere reachable, preferably on a table. Put chips in a bowl, and put paper or plastic cups next to the drinks. Make sure to have food out for when your guests come. Put pop out and iced tea or other snacks first, then after dinner put out water. Also, little bowls of nuts or chocolates are nice nibbles while people are talking.

8

Don't ignore your guests. Talk to them. If you're too busy organizing things, you a) weren't very prepared and b) your guests will feel pretty ignored and unimportant. Your guests came to your party, not someone else's. They came to see you.

9

You don't have to have goodie bags or anything to say thank you. Say goodbye politely to your guest when the time has come, and walk them to the door or car. Wait until they start to drive before you go back to the party, as just saying "bye" and letting them go to the front and walk out alone is pretty rude. If you want to give your guests a thank you gift, try something small and not too pricey. You already spent a bit on the rest.

10

Make sure your guests are interacting with each other. If you notice someone has been alone all party, talk to them, and introduce them.

11

You can also move aside the furniture in one room as a dance floor. For adults, some old, nostalgic party music as well as a few "Couples" songs will get people smiling. For teens, get loud, silly party music that everyone can recognize. Rap and hip-hop doesn't work very well unless you've got a very large crowd of die-hard dancers. I know its corny, but the YMCA, Hokey Pokey, Macarana, and Footloose get people on the dance floor.

12

Guests like to help too! Especially some of the quiet ones or look like they need to wake up. Get one of them to open and pour the wine, or help with other food preparations. Ask someone to be the DJ. You don't have to do all the work yourself when others will love to be able to help!

13

Last but not least, have a good time yourself. That's how the party will go on. Make sure you have fun, too, with your guests, and your party will be a memorable one.

14

Give you're guests an adequate sense of autonomy.. It's okay to set up some guidelines, but your guests won't appreciate it if you limit the tacos they can eat! Set up limits, but don't make them too easy to reach.