Water immersion: Reacquainting with the art of midwifery to promote normal birth

Introduction: Whilst the midwifery philosophy upholds labour and birth as a natural, physiological event, there is increasing concern that the risk averse nature of contemporary maternity care is overshadowing these important roots. As a consequence, labour and birth are commonly intersected by interventions that diverge from the salutogenic goals of a midwife and therefore, midwifery as an art that draws on intuition, observation, patience and the senses.