However, she accepted that problems could occur if the water birth was poorly managed.

BBC: Water birth drowning risk

Supporters of the water birth technique say primitive reflexes keep babies from taking a breath until they are removed from the water.

BBC: Water birth drowning risk

But Dr Joseph Gilhooly, a neonatalogist at Oregon Health and Science University in the US which has a water birth programme, said that babies who do not get enough oxygen during childbirth may gasp for air, risking allowing water to enter their lungs.

BBC: Water birth drowning risk

To consider yourself a Christian, must you believe in the Virgin Birth, or that Jesus walked on water, healed the sick, and rose triumphantly from the dead?

CNN: Seeking the truth about Jesus

But especially in rural India, where women often go back to the fields mere days after giving birth, babies' diets are often supplemented with cow's milk and water, which exposes them to infection.

ECONOMIST: Child malnutrition in India

More economic development would produce the money to help clean the now foul water and air, but also provide access to better education, one of the best ways to assure more manageable birth rates.

FORBES: The Green Movement's People Problem