What to Include in Your Water Birth Preferences List Template

When you step into your birth pool, you are stepping into your own private sanctuary. The environment outside the tub directly impacts your hormonal flow inside the tub. To keep your oxytocin (the hormone of love and labor) high and your adrenaline (the fight-or-flight hormone that stalls labor) low, your preferences list must address the sensory details of your birthing room.

Lighting and Atmosphere

Bright, clinical lights can immediately pull you out of your labor zone. In your preferences list, specifically request dim lighting. If you are in a hospital, ask that the overhead fluorescent lights remain off and that your nurses use softer spotlighting or the natural light from a window. Bring battery-operated LED candles or fairy lights to place around the edge of the tub or the room.

Sound and Scent

Water amplifies your sensory experience. Detail your preferences for auditory and olfactory comfort. Do you want a specific birthing playlist playing softly on a waterproof Bluetooth speaker? Do you prefer absolute silence during contractions? If your facility allows it, mention your preferred essential oils (like lavender for relaxation or sweet orange for energy) to be diffused in the room—never directly in the birth pool water, as this can irritate your baby’s delicate skin and eyes upon birth.

Protecting the Space

Your partner is your gatekeeper. Include a clear directive in your template about who is allowed to speak to you while you are in the water. Often, mamas in the tub enter a deep, meditative state. Here is a script you can include in your preferences list for your partner to use:

“Please direct all non-emergent medical questions, logistical inquiries, and updates to my partner or doula. We ask that the room remains as quiet and calm as possible while I am laboring in the water. If you need to check my vitals, please do so gently and between contractions.”

One of the greatest benefits of a water birth is the profound freedom of movement it offers. The buoyancy of the water supports your weight, taking immense pressure off your pelvis, back, and joints. Your preferences list should outline how you plan to move and how your partner and doula can support you physically while you are in the tub.

Step-by-Step Water Labor Positions

Include a section in your preferences that notes you wish to intuitively move through various positions. Here are the most effective water birth positions to practice and list:

1. The Forward Lean: Kneel on the soft bottom of the pool and lean your chest and arms over the inflated edge of the tub. This is excellent for resting between contractions and gives your partner perfect access to your back for counter-pressure.
2. The Supported Squat: Squatting in the water opens your pelvis by up to 30 percent. Hold onto the sides of the tub or have your partner sit outside the tub, supporting your arms as you squat during a surge.
3. The Mermaid Float: Lie back with your belly completely submerged, resting your head on a waterproof bath pillow. Let your legs float freely. This is a wonderful position for the resting phase between intense active labor contractions.
4. The Hands and Knees: Being on all fours in the water is incredibly effective for relieving back labor and helping a posterior baby rotate into an optimal birthing position.

Partner Support Directives

Your partner needs to know exactly what to do when you are in the water. Add these specific partner tasks to your preferences list:

• Hydration Duty: “My partner will offer me a sip of coconut water or electrolyte drink from a straw after every single contraction. The warm water can cause dehydration quickly.”
• Temperature Control: “My partner will use cool washcloths on my forehead and the back of my neck to keep me from overheating while in the tub.”
• Water Pouring: “During contractions, my partner or doula will use a small plastic pitcher to continuously pour warm water over my lower back or belly for pain relief.”

While we love to focus on the beautiful ambiance of a water birth, the clinical logistics are equally important. Whether you are at a hospital, a birth center, or at home, your care providers need to know your preferences regarding the medical protocols of hydrotherapy. Being clear about these logistics ensures a safe, evidence-based experience.

When to Enter the Pool

Timing is everything. Entering the birth pool too early in labor can sometimes slow down contractions. Evidence suggests the optimal time to enter the water is during active labor, typically when you are dilated to 5 to 6 centimeters and contractions are strong and regular. State your preference clearly: “I prefer to wait until active labor is well established before entering the birth pool, and I will rely on my doula and provider’s guidance to time this correctly.”

Monitoring in the Water

Your baby’s heart rate will need to be monitored while you are in the tub. Request intermittent fetal monitoring using a waterproof Doppler. This allows your provider to listen to the baby’s heart rate without requiring you to step out of the warm water. State clearly: “I consent to intermittent fetal monitoring using a waterproof Doppler while I remain in the pool, provided both baby and I are tolerating labor well.”

Backup Plans and Exiting the Tub

Birth is wildly unpredictable, and flexibility is your greatest tool. There are several reasons you might need or want to exit the tub—perhaps you feel too hot, your labor stalls, or your provider recommends it for safety. Acknowledge this in your plan. Create a matrix of your preferences based on different scenarios so your team knows exactly what to do.

The moment you have been working so hard for has arrived. Pushing and delivering in the water is a gentle, peaceful transition for your baby. They move from the warm amniotic fluid directly into the warm water of the birth pool. However, the exact mechanics of how your baby is caught and handled in those first few seconds must be explicitly stated in your preferences list.

Catching the Baby

Who is going to catch your baby? Many mothers choose to reach down and catch their baby themselves, bringing the baby directly to their chest. Others prefer their partner to catch the baby, or they feel most comfortable having their midwife or OBGYN guide the baby out. Detail your exact preference: “If all is well, I would like to catch my baby myself and bring them directly to my chest, with my provider’s hands-off guidance.”

Bringing Baby to the Surface

When a baby is born in the water, they still receive oxygen through the umbilical cord and do not take their first breath until their face meets the cool air. It is standard safety protocol to bring the baby’s face to the surface of the water gently but immediately. State your preference for this transition, ensuring that once the baby’s head is above water, it is never submerged again.

Delayed Cord Clamping and Placenta Delivery

Delayed cord clamping is highly beneficial, allowing your baby to receive vital blood, iron, and stem cells. Because you are in the tub, the logistics of this need to be clear. Include a statement like: “We request delayed cord clamping until the umbilical cord has completely stopped pulsing and has turned white.”

Regarding the placenta, most hospitals and birth centers require you to exit the birth pool to deliver the placenta. This is because it is difficult to accurately measure maternal blood loss in a tub of water. Be prepared for this transition. Request that your partner or doula have warm, dry blankets ready to wrap around your shoulders as you hold your baby to your chest and carefully step out of the tub to move to the bed.

To make your preparation as seamless and stress-free as possible, I have created a comprehensive, sisterly, and highly professional template. You can copy this text directly, edit it to fit your unique desires, and hand it to your care provider at your next prenatal visit. Keep it to one page, use an easy-to-read font, and bring multiple copies in your hospital bag.

Water Birth Preferences for [Your Name]

Due Date: [Date]
Partner/Support Person: [Name]
Doula: [Name]
Provider/Midwife: [Name]

Dear Birth Team,
Thank you so much for supporting us during this incredible journey. We are planning for an unmedicated water birth. We understand that birth is unpredictable, and we trust you to guide us if medical intervention becomes necessary for the safety of myself or our baby. If all is progressing normally, please honor the following preferences:

Environment & Atmosphere:
– Please keep the room lighting as dim as possible.
– We will be playing soft music; please keep voices low and calm.
– Please direct all non-emergent questions to my partner or doula.

Labor & Monitoring in the Water:
– I prefer to labor intuitively and change positions frequently.
– Please use a waterproof Doppler for intermittent fetal monitoring so I do not have to exit the tub.
– My partner will manage the water temperature, keeping it between 97°F and 100°F.
– Please limit vaginal exams, and if necessary, allow me to consent before proceeding.

Delivery & Immediate Postpartum:
– I would like to catch the baby myself or have my partner catch the baby under your guidance.
– Please allow for physiological delayed cord clamping until the cord is completely white and limp.
– I prefer immediate, uninterrupted skin-to-skin contact in the tub before exiting to deliver the placenta.
– Please delay all routine newborn procedures (weighing, measuring, eye ointment) until after the first golden hour and our first breastfeeding session.

Thank you for your warmth, expertise, and respect for our birth space!

To help you pack and prepare, here is a quick checklist of items you must bring to support your water birth preferences: