Active Birth Pools help make labour shorter, easier and more comfortable

Active Birth Pools Celebrates 20th Anniversary

   Welcome and thank you for visiting Active Birth Pools - the world's leading supplier and designer of water birth pools.

   In 1987 the concept of using water for labour and birth was largely unheard of. Michel Odent in France and Igor Charkovsky in Russia had been researching the safety and possible benefits.

   They inspired us to develop the first professionally designed pool which was used by women from Janet Balaskas' classes at the Active Birth Centre.

   Their overwhelmingly positive experiences helped lead the way to the current situation in which birthing pools are available to most women throughout the UK.

   Tens of thousands of mothers and babies have had a better experience of birth. The benefits of water birth are now clear and have been substantiated by many studies.

It is now well known that using a birth pool:

• Provides significant pain relief in labour.
• Reduces the needs for drugs and interventions.
• Increases the women's sense of privacy and control.
• Results in more physiological births.
• Is highly rated by mothers and midwives.
• Facilitates ease of movement and comfort in optimal positions for an active birth.
• Reduces the length of labour, promotes relaxation and conserves energy.
• Encourages an easier birth for the mother and a gentler welcome for the baby.
• Is cost effective for hospitals