Water Birth and Evia FAQs

Whether you're considering a water birth, planning one already, or simply wondering how it all works, here are answers to some of the questions we hear most often.

About Water Birth

Is water birth safe?

For healthy women with uncomplicated pregnancies who are considered suitable for water birth, the research is generally reassuring. Like every form of birth, water birth has benefits and risks, and individual circumstances matter.

Read more: Is Water Birth Safe? What the Evidence Actually Says

Is water birth safe for babies?

This is understandably one of the biggest questions. Babies born underwater do not normally begin breathing until they reach the air. Several physiological mechanisms are involved in the transition to breathing, and research into outcomes for appropriately selected pregnancies is generally reassuring.

Read more: Is Water Birth Safe for Babies?

What are the risks of water birth?

Water birth isn't risk-free — no birth is. Considerations include infection, water temperature, umbilical cord avulsion and recognising when circumstances mean leaving the pool is advisable.

Read more: What Are the Risks of Water Birth?

Does being in water actually help with labour pain?

For many women, yes. Evidence suggests immersion in water during labour can reduce the use of some forms of pharmacological pain relief. Warmth, buoyancy, reduced muscular tension and greater freedom of movement may all contribute.

Read more: Does Labouring in Water Really Help With Pain?

Why can water make labour feel different?

Warm water can reduce the physical load on the body and make movement easier. The warmth, privacy and reduced stimulation of the pool may also support relaxation and the physiological environment in which labour can unfold.

Read more: Why Does Water Help During Labour?

Do I have to actually give birth in the water?

Not at all. You can use the pool for part of labour and get out whenever you want. Labouring in water can still be valuable even if your baby is ultimately born on land.

The pool is there to work for you. You are not there to work for the pool.

What actually happens during a water birth?

You labour in warm water while your birth team continues appropriate care and monitoring. If your baby is born in the pool, your baby is brought gently to the surface after birth.

And yes — we've also answered the questions people don't always ask out loud, including poo, bodily fluids and what happens afterwards.

Read more: What Actually Happens During a Water Birth?

Planning a Water Birth

What do I need for a water birth?

If you're providing your own pool, you'll typically need the pool itself, a new hose, suitable tap connector, thermometer, plenty of towels and equipment for filling and emptying the pool.

If you're planning a homebirth, ask your midwife what she provides and whether she has her own supply list before you start shopping.

Read more: Your Water Birth Checklist: What Do You Actually Need?

What should I ask my midwife, hospital or birth centre?

Ask about eligibility, monitoring, when you can enter the pool, pain-relief options, circumstances that might mean getting out and what happens if plans change.

If you're planning to give birth in hospital or a birth centre, it's also worth asking how many pools are actually available and how routinely water births are supported.

Read more: Planning a Water Birth: Questions Worth Asking

Can I have a water birth in hospital?

Potentially, yes. Facilities, eligibility criteria, clinical guidance and availability vary between maternity units, so it's worth asking during pregnancy rather than waiting until labour.

Can I have a water birth if I'm induced?

There isn't a universal yes or no. It can depend on your individual circumstances, the method of induction, monitoring requirements and the policies of your maternity provider.

Ask your own team what options are available to you rather than assuming induction automatically means no water.

What if my water birth plan changes?

Then it changes.

You can get out of the pool. You can use different pain relief. You can labour in water and give birth on land. Your circumstances may change and your care may need to change with them.

Planning a water birth gives you an option. It isn't a test you have to pass.

About Birth Pools

Do I need a proper birth pool? Can't I just use a kiddie pool?

A kiddie pool can hold water, but a purpose-designed birth pool is designed around the particular needs of labour: useful depth, buoyancy, space to move and change position, supportive sides and the practical and hygienic realities of birth.

We'll be exploring this question in much more detail on The BirthSpace.

Why does the depth of a birth pool matter?

The aim isn't simply to sit in warm water.

Adequate depth creates greater buoyancy, reducing the physical load on your body and making it easier to move, kneel, squat, lean, rotate your pelvis and change position.

Freedom of movement is one of the things that makes water so useful during labour.

How do you fill a birth pool?

For a home water birth, a new garden hose is fine, or you can choose a drinking-water-grade hose. You'll also need the correct tap connector and adequate hot water.

Test your hose and connector before labour and check how long your pool takes to fill.

How do you empty a birth pool?

A submersible pump and drainage hose can make emptying the pool much easier.

Decide beforehand where the water will drain and who will deal with the pool afterwards.

Preferably not the person who has just given birth.

About Evia

What is the Evia birth pool?

Evia is a single-use birth pool created by The BirthSpace specifically for labour and birth.

It was designed around the things that matter in a birth pool: comfort, useful depth, freedom of movement, supportive sides, hygiene and practical preparation and disposal.

Why is Evia single-use?

Single-use means there is no need to clean, disinfect, dry, store and prepare the same pool for another woman's birth.

But that raises an obvious question: what about the environmental impact?

We think that's a question worth answering properly rather than avoiding. Evia was developed specifically to explore whether we could combine the hygienic and practical advantages of a single-use pool with a more thoughtful approach to what happens after disposal.

Is Evia biodegradable?

Evia is manufactured with an organic additive designed to support biodegradation after disposal under appropriate conditions.

That doesn't mean Evia instantly disappears after use, and we don't think environmental claims should be reduced to slogans. The conditions in which biodegradation takes place matter, and we're committed to being clear about both what the technology does and what it doesn't do.

What else do I need with my Evia pool?

You'll need the practical equipment for setting up, filling, maintaining and emptying your pool, including a hose and suitable tap connector.

We've made the whole thing easy:

Read: Your Water Birth Checklist: What Do You Actually Need?

Can I use Evia for a home water birth?

Yes. Evia was designed for labour and water birth and can be used in an appropriate homebirth setting in consultation with your maternity care provider.

Can hospitals and birth centres use Evia?

Yes. Evia was designed with professional maternity settings as well as home water birth in mind.

Hospitals, birth centres and maternity professionals interested in professional purchasing or working with The BirthSpace are very welcome to get in touch.

Still have questions?

Water birth doesn't have to be mysterious.

The BirthSpace is here to make good information easier to find, talk openly about the questions people are sometimes afraid to ask, and help women understand their options without telling them what their birth has to look like.

Because there isn't one right way to give birth.

There should be thoughtful information, genuine choices and care that remembers the woman at the centre of it all.