Introduction:
A constant growth of interest in alternative labour techniques has been observed among pregnant women in recent years. Water immersion is a method that gives women the comfort of assuming any position, decreases the frequency of episiotomy and reduces the use of analgesics and antispasmodics. This technique is asso-ciated with better pain tolerance in birthing women and leads to shortening of the birthing stages. Despite this, there are a number of studies questioning the beneficial effect of water birth on the well-being of newborns.

Material and methods:
A retrospective analysis included 210 newborns born in water immersion and 412 newborns born via the traditional method at the Neonatology Clinic in Katowice between January 2012 and December 2013.

Results:
The first and second periods of labour in women giving birth in water immersion was significantly shorter compared to the birth time via the traditional method. In the children from water birth there was a significantly smaller incidence of facial haematocyanosis compared to newborns from the control group. There were no differences shown in the incidence of adaptation period anomalies between the analysed groups of infants. The incidence of intraventricular bleeding, adrenal bleeding, perinatal asphyxia, and the necessity of conducting resuscitation after birth did not differ between the children from the two groups.

Conclusions:
Water birth is associated with a significant shortening of birth periods and it does not increase the likelihood of adaptation period anomalies in neonates.