French Couple Charged After Son Dies in Underwater Birth
A French couple following a fad for underwater childbearing were charged with manslaughter after their baby drowned at birth in a plastic wading pool, police in the southern city of Aix-en-Provence said today.
They said the parents--a 33-year-old nurse and her husband, a 34-year-old poet--reported the death Sunday night.
Underwater childbirth, pioneered in France, is said by its supporters to provide a calm and untroubled start to a baby’s life.
Police said the couple installed the inflatable paddling pool in the kitchen of a friend, a nurse who told them she was not qualified to deliver babies, especially underwater. The nurse has been charged with failing to help a person in danger.
But police said the couple had not consulted specialist doctors or organized a warm place for the baby to spend its first hours after being born in water.
Police said the mother had “an unpleasant experience” during the birth of her first child eight years ago.
The couple believed the aquatic delivery had been a success, only becoming concerned an hour later when the baby showed no signs of life.
The couple had decided on a name for the baby boy before he was born--Noah.
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