While we're discussing pain relief...

[Tadpole]

I am planning a homebirth with as little pain relief as I can stand. It appears water is good reading through what people have said

The logistics of filling/emptying a pool may be tricky though so my questions are...

would a bath work as well?

and if I were to get the pool shown on the site that was used by Sherlock - how easy was it to empty afterwards?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Nicola]

At the birthing centre I looked at they had baths instead of big pools and when I used a pool for a bit of pain control at the hospital I went in a bath not a pool.....it was a bigger bath than we might have in our bathrooms at home but it was hardly a pool. Lots of homebirth mum's have a bath but if your planning a water birth you really need the pool for the space!

Logistically I have no idea about emptying a birthing pool although I'm sure they come with instructions etc as they know people have them inflated in the living room and what not.

 

[hennaly]

Oh god thats one thing i hadnt thought of and i would love a water birth, i would have been there running to and from the sink with a jug emptying it

 

[valentine]

I am planning a homebirth with as little pain relief as I can stand. It appears water is good reading through what people have said

The logistics of filling/emptying a pool may be tricky though so my questions are...

would a bath work as well?

and if I were to get the pool shown on the site that was used by Sherlock - how easy was it to empty afterwards?

Thanks in advance.

Hi Tadpole,

I had a home water birth.

A bath just doesn't have enough space. You need space to writhe around (!) and to be comfortable and the midwives need to be able to see whats happening with mirrors etc.

I'm not sure what pool Sherlock had, but I had a 'birth pool in a box' and it comes with a clever pump mechanism to empty the water (and gunk!) down your toilet. I would advise that you make your OH or birth partner find all about the pools and to take full responsibility for this - knowing how to fill it, empty it and heat it. You are in no fit state during labour or immediately afterwards to think about this and someone else needs to take control.

I would also advise that you have a FULL dummy run too - we blew the pool up and deflated it but were too lazy to try filling it until the night I went into labour. Idiots as we are didn't realise that we don't have a combi boiler and only have enough hot water at any time to fill a bath - cue my OH in the kitchen boiling up pans of hot water and repeatedly boiling the kettle to bring the pool to the right temperature so I could initially get in and to keep it at that temperature. Funny now, but not amusing at the time and very stressful for my OH!

My full home water birth story is in a link in my signature.

Good luck - its an amazing experience.

Valentine Xxx

 

[Suzie and Faith]

the pool Sherlock used - and the one i hope to use very soon has a plug BUT obviously that's no use indoors... lol. You could either syphon it back through a hose or just use a bucket like my OH will!

The pool at my hospital is basically a big bath with a step...

Baths are good for the early stages and pain relief but you can't deliver in them

 

[Sherlock]

Bath won't work for it really as a) its not deep enough to cover all of your bump and back b) allow you to change position for contractions should you wish/need and c) not good access for MW if need be. You will want to float a bit, kneel on all fours, keep your legs apart etc and a bath is not good for any of that. Chances are your MW won't let you stay in a bath for long periods of time as bathrooms are usually too small for all the people plus equipment etc. Its not a great area for them to work in Mine didn't like long use of bath in labour once established. Fine in pre labour etc, but it was a birth pool or nothing then tbh.

The pool we bought was great (but not quite ideal if tall like me hence me getting out to deliver) £15 one from Amazon and the sides were strong so able to support me leaning on them etc.

15 mins to pump up the pool, with a large hand pump.

It took about 45mins -1 hour to fill and about the same to empty.

We filled it using the shower, took shower head off, taped on a long piece of hosing and fed it into the pool and left it to run. Then used buckets of hot water to top up also.

To empty there were 2 options for us a) using buckets and b) hose again and then sucking it to get it going to feed out on its own.

Always worth doing a trial run so you know. And having a few pans of hot water to top up.

It really has to be deep enough to cover your bump totally when sat in it. Any less than that and it won't offer enough relief. Same on the back. Needs to be around 37C to actually deliver in so invest in the bath thermometer also

Drop me a PM if you have anything you want to pick my brain over

 

[trixipaws]

i had a birth-pool-in-a-box and it was wonderful! IMO a bath wouldnt have worked anywhere near as well, coz most of what helped about the water was the buoyancy and fluid movement it allowed me to do. when ur in agony during labour a bath would probably be far too restricting, u need to sort of writhe around and kick ur legs etc during contraction peaks! and being in a deep pool really really helps with that. but im talking about later in labour (the last 5cms) a bath might work really welll for the first 5.


EDIT i didnt do any of the inflating/filling/syphen(sp?)ing of the pool that was my boyf's job lol!