Home Water Pools?

[MJJ]

Hi There,

A excited but equally scared father about to experience our first home birth next month! Our first one was quick in hospital so am just considering which pool to buy or hire...thinking of just buying a Birthpool in Box the MINI version as will only be my wife in pool and she is not too tall etc....also we may be short on time to fill it ll up etc? any experiences or recommendation on what to buy or best deals ? can we just have it inflated and ready to go in spare room? any home birth pool tips? need to get a plan in place as going to buy one in next week or so

Many Thanks!
MJ

 

[giz]

I have no idea what the birthpool in a box contains.

But from my research last time (didn't have a home birth in the end) you might want:
Some sort of plastic to cover the floor
A sieve (for removing you know what...)
A thermometer.

Have a think about how you're going to fill it. Buckets? With kettles of hot water? Or can you fill direct from a hot tap with a hose?

How are you going to empty it? Again, buckets? Or you can get pumps to pump out the water.

If it were me I'd be doing a test run to see how long it did take to fill/get to temperature.
----------------
baby giz born 6th Feb 2011
next one due 12th Aug 2013

 

[Jen3704]

Hey!! Birth pool in a box seem to be the best choice out there, they inflate quick and are really great sturdy pools. The mini is a good one, we have the next size up and its not that big to be truthful, it all depends if your partner would like a bit more room to move around etc, sometimes makes a big difference.

You'll need:
Duvet for underneath pool (helps retain heat, offers extra comfort on knees)
Shower curtains for carpet protection (poundland)
Old Towels
Bucket
Hose/Tap adapter
Mirror (handheld for midwife to see whats happening down there)
Torch (for midwife)
Floating water thermometer
Sieve
At least x3 kettles (for heating water back up incase no more hot water)
Maybe a tarpaulin

Pool lid: (lids are expensive to buy/hire)
Bubble wrap
Foil survival blankets (to reflect heat back inside the pool)

Hmmm think thats it lol

A test run is a must!! But remember, the liner which comes with it for the birth cannot be used in the test run, as it needs to stay in the sealed pack until the time comes.

Oh and when putting the liner on the pool, remember that once the pool is fully inflated, its an absolute nightmare to put the liner on!! So pump up the pool so far, then put on the liner whilst theres 'give' to the pool, then finish pumping it up. Hope that makes sense lol

 

[MJJ]

Thank you! I think we will go for the mini...just as i said she was a quick labour last time and this time they keep telling us even quicker so any bigger by time i inflate it and fill it up it may be too late!!...thanks for the tips with regards to filling extra kettles a good idea!! and duvet etc.. and the dummy runs advice...and the kit needed...cheapest i can see for the whole pool and kit required is about 140 odd and that is for a mini eco pool in box did you buy a whole package online?

also as time may really be of the essence...can i have it partially inflated ready to go in spare room obviously wont put liner in till shes in labour...? due 13 of next month so going to order this weekend i think...

 

[Jen3704]

I've hired mine from The Dorset Homebirth Group, only cost us £40 then. I dont know where abouts you are, but if you google 'Hire Birth Pool in a Box *and your area*' something might just come up. When I was searching a few places came up in our area. So fingers crossed same with you!! Its just so much better to hire if possible, because buying a pool is very expensive, for it to be used once.....then stuck in the loft! or selling it on ebay for a fraction of the price!

The place where I hired the pool supplied the pool, liner, air pump, water pump (to empty it) so there was no need for us to buy a kit. They do sell them on ebay though!

Yeah I cant see why you couldnt have it partially pumped up in the spare room, so its all ready to go!! Saves time then!! Hubby thought about doing the same, but I wont let him!! I have bad tidyness issues haha!! But definately makes sense if time is precious!!

 

[MJJ]

hiya thanks again! Im in in E London/Essex area - this is the site the midwives told us about! waterbabybirthingpoolhire
hire costs 80 quid plus few extras if required on this site so you got a bargain!
will double check other companies....hiring seems to make sense but on thsi site they say you can not do dummy runs with water as you have to use liners so i would have to buy 2 sets of pool liners i guess!...

 

[Jen3704]

WOW 80 quids a lot!!!! When i asked the woman I collected the pool from about doing a dummy run, I asked if it was all ok to have a test run without a liner, and she said it was fine, cos the pool is just like a paddling pool. So I dont know if its different peoples opinions or what, but if you've been told not to, then probably a good idea not to. We only did it cos we were given the green light. Yeah hiring would make sense, so hopefully you can find somewhere that costs a lot less!!

Good luck!! x

 

[Saisb]

Hey, sorry to butt in but I bought a birthing pool but won't be able to use it as I broke my ankle and I'm now on silly blood thinning injections which has made me too high risk for a home birth. So, I have a made in water pool, not been used but tested to check it was all ok, and how long it took to inflate, super quick! I have the hose, pump and liner too. Would you be interested? Ideally I'd like £100 for it, but open to offers, and then you could sell it on too and get some money back!
X

 

[MJJ]

Hiya! thanks for the offer!....but we decided to hire they explained i can do dummy one with a spare liner they provide arrives middle of next week...its all seems a very efficient way of doing it then they collect it all and take it away after saves me cluttering up my loft with even more junk....
I have the shopping list of extras to buy next week...then its all systems go!! very scared but excited about it all still feels bit weird it all happening at home....my wife thinks im nuts going on forums but they can be really helpful cheers!

 

[Jen3704]

Really really glad you've managed to find somewhere to hire one! Its great that they will collect it from you too and lend you a liner to do a dummy run!!

Forums are a brilliant source of info!! You can ask others questions who know much more than you do, if that makes sense lol. Why be clueless and play the guessing game when there are others out there who can help and answer your questions and share tips! So you're not nuts for going on forums, its a smart move haha!!

 

[KarenC]

Ah. Good luck to you and your wife! We had a home birth and I had a Made in Water pool. I didn't give birth in the pool in the end because it slowed my contractions down too much, but I loved it and the birth was AMAZING. We had to really rush to fill the pool because I thought i was nowhere near ready to go in it, but when the MW examined me upon arriving she found that I was fully dilated and ready to push! Hubby was running around like a lunatic trying to get the water hot enough. I'd say start early and get it fairly full and quite warm, put a lid on and top up with hot just before going in. It takes longer than you think. Also take into consideration how much hot water your boiler/hot water tank can supply at once. We didn't have enough and had to boil some kettles to help. Try and borrow extra kettles to have to hand just in case. Sounds crazy, but it would have helped us. Make sure there is something nearby that your wife can give birth on if she decides not to do it in the water. We had some old sponge mattress thingies that I totally ruined, but it was a good thing to kneel on them to push outside of the water.

Hope it goes really well x

 

[MJJ]

great thanks tip for another area to have ready is useful!! will sort that this weekend...pool arrives Friday!