Dr Gilhooly said immersed babies should be removed from the water quickly to avoid that risk.

BBC: Water birth drowning risk

The BBC's Andrew Gilhooly went along to the Conservative Party's first ever official gay event on Tuesday.

BBC: At-a-glance: Tory conference

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