Influence of a Bath During Labor on the Experience of Maternity

The data collected in this study tends to show that the bath has improved the
experience of pregnancy and delivery, particularly for women of the pathological group, and among those
mostly for primiparas. Their experience often comes fairly close to that of the normal group. We can suggest
that the bath has a relaxing, a reassuring and an analgesic effect which provides favourable conditions for a
satisfactory delivery even in pathological cases, where women could otherwise have been overwhelmed with
anxiety. The bath may enable women to master the pain and also to relax and to find comfort in reassuring
figures such as their partners and their mothers, and become more responsive to their baby.