A water birth means at least part of your labour, delivery, or both happen while you’re in a birth pool filled with warm water. It can take place in a hospital, a birthing centre, or at home. A doctor, nurse-midwife, or midwife helps you through it. A warm bath might help you relax and help you feel more in control. Floating in water helps you move around more easily than in bed, too. The use of a birthing pool during the first stage of labour might: Help ease pain, Keep you from needing anaesthesia, Speed up your labour. Things change during the second part of labour. That’s when your cervix is completely dilated and open and you start pushing until the baby is born. If you’re thinking about a water birth, talk to your health care professional early in your pregnancy to find out if it’s a service the hospital provides.