Prospective parents who want a birthing pool on the Island need to speak up, according to hospital chiefs.

Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB) said yesterday it would consider including a pool for women to give birth in as part of the multimillion dollar redevelopment of King Edward VII Memorial Hospital if enough people say they want one.

BHB was responding to comments from campaigner Sophie Cannonier, who claims she and others have been lobbying doctors for the past four years to introduce a pool at KEMH.

Mrs. Cannonier, who teaches "conscious birth" classes at Spirit House, Devonshire, said birthing pools help with natural childbirth and pain relief.

"The water birth tub is your own private space so you feel a sense of security and protected," she said.

"You can relax a lot more as the depth of the water causes a certain amount of buoyancy, so the baby has more room to move around and get into a better birthing position, due to the lack of gravity.

"Birthing in water means the baby also has a much smoother transition into the world and it's not going to drown."

Mrs. Cannonier said the women who attend her class are interested in water birth but don't have the option on the Island.

"They've been asking their doctors for the past four years if they can have a water birth, but they say they are unable to offer that right now as they are not trained for this. But the woman actually births her own baby in the water."

She added: "Many women are now choosing to have home births with their own midwives. We've had a lot of water births in the past year so I am approaching the hospital about getting a birthing pool.

"Water births are happening all over the world, as it is proven to be the best form of pain relief in giving birth.

"Why don't we have this option yet in Bermuda? There's no reason why we shouldn't be exploring it."

Mrs. Cannonier is due to meet BHB chief of staff Donald Thomas on July 16 to discuss a pool.

A BHB spokes-person said: "We are in the process of a major planning phase for the KEMH redevelopment project and we have been actively asking the community and local organisations to contact our clinical advisory team with their thoughts.

"We have held focus groups and asked people to call the clinical advisory team to discuss their views on what services should look like.

"These will be taken into consideration as we plan the services required for our community in our new facilities and redeveloped hospital building."

She said those keen to see a birthing pool included in the KEMH rebuild should make their views known to the clinical advisory team on 239-5959.