Meghan Markle Broke Royal Protocol Yet Again! This Time It Had to Do With Archie’s Birth

Concerning her baby’s birth, Meghan Markle wasn’t much on following royal protocol to the letter. She first broke tradition by insisting that she wanted a home birth instead of a hospital delivery, and plans were already in place to prepare her Frogmore cottage for the baby’s arrival.

However, her wish didn’t come true as she had to be rushed to a hospital the night before delivery. Still, reports indicate that, even with the hospital birth, the Duchess may have branched off the expected norm.

The Duke and Duchess couldn’t keep baby Archie from the world for long

Water Birth

According to OK!, Meghan’s idea of a home birth was a big birthing pool. She would have made history by becoming the first royal ever to have a water birth, and questions are still being raised as to whether she still carried out her plan at the hospital.

The family has been rather secretive about how baby Archie was actually born but sources’ accounts suggest that it definitely didn’t happen at home.

In addition to the speculation that the Duchess may have just changed her birthing location but not her delivery plans, people have also raised concerns about the safety of water births, especially for first-time moms who find labor particularly hard. Millions of others have no idea what water birth actually is.

So, what is it really? In essence, its name says it all. A water birth is where the expectant mother delivers their baby in water. Regardless of the location of the birthing pool (at home, in the hospital, anywhere really), the water simply has to, at the very least, have an 18-inch depth.

Meghan gave birth at Portland hospital

Going by The New York Times, there exists no regulations on the dos and don’ts when it comes to this birthing method. The general recommendation, however, is that the water should cover the mother’s belly.

Those who are a hundred percent behind natural births have a pretty convincing argument for why water births are better than hospital births. In water, buoyancy helps the mother to move easily, and get into different positions with ease, making contractions a tad more comfortable. As they put it, water births also shorten labor.

The ACOG Stand

Still, the debate about its safety is nowhere near a sane conclusion. Those who are against this delivery can take pride in the 2016 ACOG recommendation that births should never occur in water; they should always be on land.

However, many have argued that the ACOG’s stand on water births is because the area hasn’t quite been under study. Currently, the exact number of such births in the States is unknown. Owing to the fact that the College has no existing data to strongly argue in favor of water births, the safer way is to go with the tried and tested delivery mode.

Archie is healthy and doing well

And although ACOG has nothing against being in water during labor, they strongly recommend that a mother not be in water during the actual birth. According to them, there exists no data supporting the benefits this accrues to either the mother or the newborn. In fact, there could be many negative health repercussions for babies who are born this way.

The first on their list is the risk of infections the baby is exposed to in the event that the water is contaminated. The mother is also not safe from these infections either.

Next, they say that a water birth makes it difficult to regulate the baby’s temperature, in addition to increasing the risk of damaging the umbilical cord. Other complications include seizures and asphyxia, both of which can affect the baby’s cognitive growth.

With these serious complications, we can only be happy that baby Archie is alive and well, assuming his was a water birth.