This is the easiest birth I’ve ever seen. The surprised look on the mom’s face as her baby slips out easily and she pulls him up out of the water is priceless. She says, “Labor was so fast the midwife didn’t make it in time. When we called her to ask where she was, she said she was just five minutes away, so my husband went downstairs to meet her and let her in the house. I gave birth in the meantime, and the midwife arrived two minutes later.” Laboring in warm water can relax the pelvic muscles and soften the perineum so much that the baby nearly “falls” out! My sister once told me about a friend of hers who accidentally had her fourth baby in the tub after a completely painless labor. She stood up out of the water and called out to her husband that she “felt really weird,” and then caught her own baby! I loved that story, and I used to visualize having that kind of birth over and over while I was pregnant with Asher. If I had stayed in my tub during labor instead of trying to walk to the car, I would have had nearly the same experience. Next time, I guess!
