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"Heather Barrington and her husband, Adam, have traveled to the Sirius Institute in Hawaii, where they&amp;#x27;re planning to have a water birth&amp;amp;#8212;surrounded by a pod of dolphins. The couple&amp;#x27;s baby is due in July; they&amp;#x27;ll spend the time leading up to the birth going for prenatal swims with the dolphins in order to form a connection with the pod. And the Barringtons aren&amp;#x27;t the first or last to want a dolphin-assisted birth; the institute reports that it receives three to four requests per week from people seeking the experience (about which, the founders say that &amp;quot;birthing with the dolphins has been an ancient native practice in Hawaii and in other cultures&amp;quot;). Water births appeal to pregnant mamas-to-be for lots of reasons: It&amp;#x27;s said to be gentler for the baby and less stressful for the mom, plus the American Pregnancy Association says that the act of floating may promote better blood circulation, more efficient uterine contractions, and less pain. Meanwhile, dolphin-assisted therapy&amp;amp;#8212;where patients, who usually have physical or mental disabilities, play and swim with captive dolphins&amp;amp;#8212;has been around for 25 years; it&amp;#x27;s said to be relaxing and soothing. And there&amp;#x27;s no denying that dolphins are smart, playful, and amazing animals. But, even captive, they&amp;#x27;re still wild animals&amp;amp;#8212;strong, big, potentially aggressive, and possibly unpredictable. Laboring women are in especially vulnerable states too. What do you think? Would you ever consider a water birth&amp;amp;#8212;with dolphins? Photo: Thinkstock"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.glamour.com/health-fitness/blogs/vitamin-g/2013/05/health-do-or-dont-have-a-dolph>