Indy researchers study underwater birth

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Two Indianapolis medical researchers are launching a study to assess the safety of the growing practice of underwater births.

Regenstrief Institute fellow and obstetrician/gynecologist Jeanne Ballard will work with Regenstrief investigator Michael Weiner on the project. They'll analyze five years' worth of data of in-hospital underwater deliveries by midwives with HealthNet, a community-based health center in Indianapolis.

Ballard says natural childbirth proponents believe giving birth in water decreases the need for medical interventions in labor and offers the infant a less traumatic birth experience. But skeptics point to reports of complications in both the mother and infant.

She says there's little data to support either side.

Underwater births are becoming more common in both Europe and the U.S. over the past decade, but they remain more popular in Europe.