Lu (C), accompanied by her husband and her doctor, gives birth to a baby boy in water at Shanghai Changning Maternity & Infant Health Hospital, on June 3, 2013. The 28-year-old Lu gave birth to the boy, weighing over 4 kilograms, in water after one hour of labor, at 2:54 pm in Shanghai's first water delivery hospital in China, on Monday. The baby boy became the 5,000th baby, born in water in Shanghai.

Water births create a more relaxed, less painful experience that promotes a midwife-like model of care. Placing a pool of water in the birthing room changes the atmosphere immediately. Voices get softer, the mother stays calmer and everyone becomes less stressed. When a woman in labor relaxes in a warm deep bath, free from gravity's pull on her body, her body is less likely to secrete stress-related hormones. [Photo/Xinhua]