The Safety of Waterbirth for Low Risk Pregnancies

Studies on waterbirth have found that newborns that are born underwater do not experience elevated risks compared to those not born in water. They were no more likely to have lower APGAR scores or need to be transferred to the hospital when born at home. Mothers with low-risk pregnancies and labors that progress normally can safely utilize waterbirth as a method of managing labor pain.

You can read more about these studies here.

Source: http://mana.org/blog/Waterbirth-Safe-Babies-New-Research