Labouring in a bath at home

[Miffster]

I would like to try for a home birth since I can't see that much difference between a HB and birthing centre, except after a birthing centre birth I'd have to go into a loud/skanky postnatal ward full of other people's visitors, and noise, and run by ratty agency nightstaff at night, and I am no lover of hospitals.

I have this large, deep bath in a small - tiny - bathroom.

Can I use it for a water birth, or at least for a water labour? I can sit crosslegged, squat or crouch in it with the water up to my shoulders - so it seems deep enough to me - and I can top it up with hot tapwater whenever I like, plus use the shower attachment to massage myself. And I am very happy in it when I have migraines/horror period cramps etc.

The only disadvantage I can see is that there is almost no room for a midwife to get round it, the bath takes up the entire tiny bathroom, leaving only standing room in front of a tiny sink and WC. I suppose she coudl sit on the loo seat!

How much do midwives need to be physically in your face/parts when labouring anyway? Do they have to be in the same room all the time during a HB? Because I can't see that working out too well, in a tiny bathroom. And incredibly boring for the MW, having to hang about for hours and hours.

How deep does a birthing pool actually need to be?
What happens to any poo/gunk that gets into it?
Would I be advised to get out of it when actually delivering the baby?
Has anyone here laboured/birthed in a bath at home?

Sorry, lots of q's but am trying to think about the practicalities now at 26 weeks before my MW/GP birth plan meeting, rather than wait for 36 weeks home visit from the MW HB team - when it 'll be too late to transfer to a birthing centre with a water pool (they need the transfer and booking in to have been completed by 31 weeks latest).

I've been told that MWs need access to about 2/3 of a birth pool edge, so I don't think there's anywhere near enough room in your bathroom. Fine for early labour, but not for established, because the MW will want room to get to you to both check on you and in case things start going wrong in anyway. If they had to get you out, it could take 2 people helping you, for one thing.

To birth in water, the water has to be deep enough so there is no chance of the baby breaking the surface before it is fully born. A rough rule to use is would your bum be fully under water if you were on your knees?

The gunk/poo gets sieved out mostly, but I think the water would normally get emptied down the loo at home.

I'm sure there wouldn't be a problem with you labouring in the bath until you're ready to come out? Not sure about birthing the baby in the pool though? I had a homebirth last summer and used my bath a lot in labour (all the way through). The mw just popped in every 20mins to check my blood pressure and check the baby, not invasive at all, took her a few mins each time. Then she would go into the bedroom or downstairs to have a cup of tea and cake! It was a VERY relaxed experience. They are not with you in your face, just there. I'm sure the mw would be happy to sit on your loo - mine was

Also mine was so regularly monitored as it was a VBAC, had pregnancy induced hypertension, and suffered previous pre-eclampsia.

Thanks very much for the helpful advice and info!

Maybe I can do must of the labouring in my bathroom/bedroom and then have a birthpool in the sitting room as well. That way I won't have to worry about keeping the birthing pool hot for ages. And filling it up will be something for DH and MW to do.

Am still trying to understand how much time MW spend hanging about while you go from 4cm - 10cm at home. Because what if that takes about 12 hours?

I have a bathroom, bedroom and large sitting room/kitchen, plus a tiny box room, all on one level.

I can't think where the MW will get to hang out since she can't be spending the entire time holding my hand and nor would I want her to. I can't really labour in the bedroom, unless I lie on my back/side, there's no room to crouch on the floor, there's no point going into the boxroom, which is just a sofabed and a desk, so it's bathroom or sitting room.

What does a MW normally do during a long HB? Hang out with a cuppa and a slice in whatever room you are not in, ie. sits on bed in bedroom if you are in sitting room?

I am worried I will feel the need to entertain her and hostess her, like I normally do with visitors.

I know this sounds mad.

Trust me you won't need to entertain them! My labour was actually very long, the mw's were with me from about 3.30pm on the Weds until 9.30am on the Thurs - 18 hrs (they did changeover!) I didn't have a clue what they were doing but I did buy in lots of cakes/biscuits/tea/coffee etc before hand. They were quite happy and bought me anything I could possibly need at the right times. They also left my house with NO evidence that I'd just had a baby at all within an hr of the birth!

No problem labouring in a bath - I spent 6 hours labouring in mine.

Wasn't a home birth though so got out and went to hospital to push

just to say that if you do have the baby in a birthing centre then you would be able to go home pretty quickly and not have to bother with the postnatal ward if you've had a straightforward delivery.

Wish I had your bath!

Possibly no use to you whatsoever, but did you see these vids and here.

I might buy a birth pool to have a bath in. Would be much better than my bath! :)

I gave birth to my fourth dc in a normal-sized (i.e. small) bath at home, in a decent-sized bathroom, having spent about half of a reasonably quick labour in it too. The midwife was in another room for most of it, only came in when she could hear that things were progressing rapidly...

Your midwife will know that it's advised that the baby's head doesn't come out of the water until the whole body is fully born, and will probably remind you, if necessary, to keep your bottom half submerged in the water - mine was quite firm with me about it!

Let your dp/birthing partner worry about looking after the midwife's needs - it gives them something to do, too.

I'm planning a home-birth for this December, this time in my massive deep Victorian bath - hooray!

I don't think you need to worry too much about keeping the water hot in a birth pool. I had a thread recently asking if I should get a heat retention cover and the consensus was that the heat doesn't dissipate that quickly see here.

Cheers for the replies ladies.
Am still dithering about home birth/birthing centre but have made up mind to transfer to Whittinton hospital with great new birthing unit and 2 pools, so hopefully I will be able to labour at home in the bath then transfre to the MLU and the bigger pool.