Birthing pool at home, worth the effort?

[Allegrogirl]

I'm currently 38 weeks with DC2 and planning a homebirth. I've borrowed a pool from the local homebirth group and only have to pay for the liner which is great. I seem to have a lot of reasons not to bother using it at the moment, DH being a bit negative isn't helping. My 'against' list follows:

Last labour was induced but only 6-7 hours from drip going in from a standing start. MW thinks this labour should be even quicker, will we even have time to fill the pool?

MW has advised that it is unlikely the MW doing delivery will be happy with me being in pool for second stage. We have a large bath so would this do as well for pain relief in first stage?

It seems a real faff finding somewhere to keep the pool, buying sheeting, piping, sieve etc. Also having to clean it afterwards.

I'd have to deter my 2 year old from jumping all over it before the birth.

Keeping the temperature right seems a bit of a challenge.

DH in the middle of decorating a room still so the house is a bit upside down.

You're not supposed to get in it until a certain cm dilated anyway so I assume would need to keep it warm until MW arrives.

Apologies for the rambling post. I've been feeling so chilled about my homebirth after being an emotional mess before DD arrived. I'm now starting to feel very tired and anxious about labour and the birth pool seems to be adding to my worries!

So tell me to crack on because it's well worth the effort, or just run a nice hot bath.

Worthwhile for me - even for ds2, where labour was under 3 hs so by the time the pool was inflated and full I was ready to push - but stepping into the pool was such blessed relief.

Ds2 practically shot out 3 contractions later, but I'm convinced it would have been longer if I hadn't been in the pool.

I decided against a birth pool because of lack of space. I got on really well with a TENS machine. I didn't need gas and air and my birth was really quick. It wasn't painfree but bareable.

Its worth trying hynpnotherphy CDs to relax. A large bath will work for pain relief, but you won't be able to do the second stage in the bath.

I found that I did not feel comfortable about the idea of a baby being born in water. I was fearful the baby would drown.

You need to give birth in the way that is right for you. A nice hot bath sounds ideal.

Thanks ib and reallytired. My MW doesn't think the MW doing the delivery will be happy with me staying in for the second stage as not many community MWs here are experienced enough with waterbirths. Tried TENS last time and hated it.

I think I will see how I feel in a few days and if baby comes before we get around to sorting the pool out I won't have to make a decision.