For those of you planning or who have had a HB did you use a birthing pool or just your bathtub. Our bathtub i pretty big and has jets but I def couldn't get into any other position then reclining in it.
If you used a birthing pool how much was it? Where did you buy it? what should I be looking for specifically?
Oh and this may be a really silly question but we have a plastic kiddie pool that the kids play in in the summer could I use that? How do you deal with filling it up/emptying it/getting the water warm?
Re: HB mammas birthing pool vs. bathtub
We rented the largest size birthing pool from my midwife's office for $200. It was like have a mini-pool in my bedroom, and I used every inch of that thing to move around and change positions. Not only would I have found a bathtub that I could not change positions in unhelpful, I think it would have increased my pain to be stuck in reclining position only.
To fill it, we turned our hot water heater as high as it would go, and had a never used before garden hose and sink attachment that ran from the bedroom. When the 50 gallon tank ran out, they boiled water on the sink. There were three different fill lines -- minimum amount, mid amount, and maximum amount of water. Each time I had gotten out and was ready to get back in, hot water was added to the next "line" to warm it up. It needed to be between 98 and 102 degrees, I think, so they had me buy a "minute" themometer and they tested it each time.
We're planning a homebirth in December and was wondering the same thing.
Ideally I'm looking for a pool large enough to move around in with ease, one that is able to regulate the temperature, is not too high so that I can get out as easily as possible if something were to go wrong, and has a drain/pump on it. Our midwife does not supply them so I am scouring the country looking for the best one.
I look forward to reading other homebirth mamas recomendations.
we rented it from our MW for $50 I think. I would have hated to be in the actual tub rather than the birth pool.
If you can rent one for fairly cheap I think it is totally worth it
We are moving at the end of October and our new place has a awesome tub, but we are still going to rent an aqua doula. It is deeper than the tub, comes with a heat pump and I think the clean up with be easier- just drain and toss the liner. I am not so sure about cleaning out a tub with jets.
Also, I used one with my first and already know I like it.
We are renting ours:
https://www.aquadoula.com/
This.
We are renting the aqua doula through our midwives for $250. I think it is the same online, though need to check. Our m/w also gave us the option to do a non-heated pool or they told us some people just buy a plastic kiddie pool, but I'm going to pass on those. Heat and as much space as possible, please . . .https://www.waterbirth.org/mc/page.do?sitePageId=45085
This pool came highly recommended from our midwife. After doing some research I decided to go with it because it seems to be the biggest option on the market and reasonably priced.
We filled it using a garden hose and an attachment to our shower and then drained it by sticking the hose out our second story bedroom window to our garden in the backyard and let gravity siphon it out.
If you're looking for an affordable option that's easy to find locally I would definitely recommend this!
Adam Logan born at home 9/19/11~Breastfeeding, Babywearing, CDing, SAH Mama
I love this!!! I just really enjoy creative solutions.
I used our bathtub. We have a massive jacuzzi tub, easily big enough for two adults... in fact, my midwife said that it looks just like the tub at one of the local birth centers where she sometimes attends births. It was really nice not having to hassle with setting up a separate birth pool.
There were no problems cleaning out the tub, at least not that I was aware of!
We're moving, and I'm not sure the tub in our new house is big enough for birthing in. Sigh.
Mommy to DD1 (June 2007), DS (January 2010), DD2 (July 2012), and The Next One (EDD 3/31/2015)