Mumsnet Talk

I'm due in 5 weeks , its my second birth, my first was only 7 hours and I'm told to expect it to be half to 2/3rds of that this time so i'm rather wondering if there will be time to get it all set up in time to be of very much use.

Did some rough calculations based on flow rate and arrived at a figure of about an hour to fill plus 12 minutes to inflate.

Have done a test run and it took us 45mins. I have a hurricane elec pump so it only takes 1min to inflate.

Agree, have a test run first. You can all enjoy having a soak in it - that's what we did.

Test run. Hmm. Well maybe, might have to get DS out of the way first. I'm not buying a new pump just for this one thing so 12 minutes it will have to be for that. I have the pool second hand, the liner and stuff is on order to arrive later this week. I could just try filling it with the garden hose and then milton it all afterwards I suppose. It can't stay standing. There isn't the space.

Definitely recommend practice run and emptying.Make sure your adaptors fit your taps and time the filling. see if the temp check seems accurate.Get in and relax and see how it feels. Then empty down toilet or outside drain and see how that goes. This is your OHs business, the pregnant one should be served!

I'm due in 5 weeks too but I decided against a pool as I thought we'd have enough around with the Christmas tree.

OK practice run it is then, next weekend if we can.

Mine took 5 minutes to inflate and 45 minutes to fill.

That would be ok I think.

Too long. DS was born on the living room floor.

Thats what I'm afraid of.

Not sure how ling ours took to inflate as we left it up - could you leave it up but on it's side to take up less space? (or just store it not fully deflated. I think filling was about 30-45 minutes but it would depend on stuff like how quickly your hot water system heats the water. My labour was just under four hours and I asked DH to fill it after one hour thinking I wouldn't need it for ages but ended up jumping in before it was full. I'd say fill it as soon as you think you are in labour rather than waiting till you think you need it. Also practice runs are good - I had my husband do a few and relaxed in the pool a few times which I think helped.

Am in similar situation, got it up last time just about. It wasn't that short a labour but I didn't expect it to ramp up so quickly near the end.
On the plus side, if the babies come so fast we have them on the floor, that sounds like a great straightforward birth to me - a win win situation, even though would be annoying not to get in pool at all!
Due 2nd Jan with no.3

About an hour but dh was boiling kettles as the hot water hadn't been in long enough!!!!!!!! Also, think ahead about deflating. We (dh) were left with that joyous task. Our hose was basic and wouldn't empty it, so it sat there full all night, then dh had to empty it with a bucket in the morning. Lovely!

I'd love a home water birth but I tend to have fast labours. My last was 40mins so it'd probably be a waste of money to hire/buy a birth pool this time.

Ours took about 15 mins to inflate but about an hour to fill. Just as DH was getting it close to full the midwife decided we needed to go into hospital so I never got to try it.

For my second labour I had the pool already inflated but because I didn't acknowledge I was in labour quickly enough we didn't manage to fill it more than an inch before the baby popped out on the living room rug. Still highly recommend home birth though and we sold the pool on

I had a slow birth then went quick at the end and the Mws wouldn't let dp fill it even though it was my third and I kept saying it wouldn't be long but the Mws know best and dd was born on the floor. my advice is fill it halfway with cold water at the first twinge (might want to do a test run and see roughly how much cold water you will need) then add the hot when its time that way you cut the filling time in half and should be able to fill it if your birth takes a fast turn.

About an hour to fill from memory. I'd do it as soon as you think you're in labour, you can always empty some water out and add more hot if needed. you can get lids for them which I found helped keep the heat in. I got in before the midwife arrived (about 3 hours after filling it) figured it was in MY home and I could do what I wanted. Since the baby was born 20 min after the midwife arrived and about an hour after I got in the pool I'm guessing I was more than 5cm dilated!

I smiled when I saw this thread, memories of DH rushing round with pans and kettles of hot water trying to get pool full and warm enough (hot water cylinder not fast enough), probably took 1.5 hrs or so, all rushed after we got ds1 out of the house (never would have managed that if he spied a pool in the living room ). So technically dd was a water birth but it was pretty close, i jumped in the pool, pushed and there she was!