Hoping for a home birth with a heated pool...

[Orbinator]

Any suggestions? I think the heated ones sound better (and usually also have a filter from what I can see) as I can set it up in advance and not worry. I may well be on my own with just the MW's for the birth so this is important to me.

I was also wondering if you can put oils in the water? Was thinking Lavender or Tea Tree perhaps?

Hmmm

I dont think you can set it up in advance actually (though am prepared to be corrected )
I too am planning a home-birth with a pool, and im SURE ive read how the water mustnt be in there for more than 24 hours, or else it gets stagnent, and not clean anymore.
In order to keep it clean enough you would need to use chemicals (like in a swimming pool) and i wouldnt want my baby born into a pool of nasty chemicals in it.
If you did you chemicals then you would have to get the balance just right... which im sure is tricky..... i worked for several families who did have their own swimming pools, and even in a whole entire pool full of water it was easy to add a little bit too much of one chemical then have to neutralise it with some more of the other one etc.

I have a birth pool in a box (It inflates in

There are definitely pools for hire that you can keep the water in for days and days - I think they have some sort of special filtering system. You pay more, of course!

Just checked - birthworks.co.uk hires this kind of pool.

Yes, the one I'm looking at from Babylove is heated with a filter and a cover, so I could have it set up before. Although I think I'd try to clear it every day or so just for my own piece of mind. I've heard that filling it takes the longest time. nannyl My friend used the birthpool in a box and said it was around 30mins to inflate and just over an hour to fill, just so you know :) I've also found some plastic sheeting that my MW recommended using for stairs and around the pool. Apparently with HB's most mums make a run for the loo thinking they have the squits when they are about to start pushing...so it's a Save The Carpet effort.

Anyone know about putting in oils though?

I had a heated, filtered pool for DD1 - wound up with a land birth, but used it in the last few weeks as a wallow (bliss :o) and during labour. Not having to worry about setting it up was very good as from family history we had reason to believe I wouldn't have a llooonnnngggg labour (she arrived in 7 hours, so not precipitous but not particularly tardy for a 1st baby), and we'd had issues with hot water.

IIRC, they don't recommend using oils in the water but you could check with the company if/when you hire or buy one. Could you use one of the nightlight burners instead?

Not all heated pools are filtered so make sure of the details before you order if a filter is important to you - it was to us :)

If you do hire one check what the terms are for hire period extensions - I can't find the company we used anymore, but IIRC they pretty well guaranteed that they wouldn't demand their pool back before you'd given birth (for us that was free - possibly because we'd hired for maximum duration). Other companies had phrases like "we'll do our best to let you keep it, but if we have other bookings...". I also saw companies that had an indefinite additional weekly charge if you went beyond your initial hire. I can see why these may be necessary from a business perspective, but the concept didn't make me feel comfortable and relaxed as a woman in the late stages of pregnancy.

Some women do buy them. I've seen reference to the Lay-z-spa being used as a birth pool. IIRC its possible to buy all the chemicals you need that are the same as the hire companies send out - I was quite surprised that the price differential wasn't higher, although admittedly not comparing like with like.

If you hire a heated, filtered pool then they supply the appropriate chemicals, all of which are considered safe to use to have a baby in (IIRC they use oxygen based products rather than chlorine based ones. You chuck a tablet in once a day and do a complete water change once a week - or more often if you want to. It took a LONG time to fill, and a good few hours for the heater to get it up to temperature - but then we did have a massive pool (very comfy for both DH and I) and had to use cold water in part.

Good luck :)

We hired birth pool in a box for use at home and I'd say you don't really need a heated pool if you have a combi boiler with instant hot water. The inflatable pool was so easy to set up and fill (took 10 mins to inflate and 15 mins to fill, which was just as well as I had a very fast labor and was only in the pool for 30 mins). It's really easy to take some colder water out and add more hot water, as they give you two hoses and a pump to pump out the used/cold water more efficiently. You probably won't notice the water feeling any colder as you sit in it, but you'll be likely to need to add more hot water for the actual birth as it must be around 37 degrees C for the birth. We only filled the pool to the minimum level initially, so we didn't even need to remove any cool water but just added a little more hot water for the birth. As long as you set it up in the kitchen or somewhere where you have good access to hot water it's incredibly easy to use. My partner did most of the setting up and filing etc but the midwives were happy to help as they were trained in water birth, so even if you don't have a birth partner with you, you don't necessarily need a heated pool - before you decide anything I'd just discuss all this with your midwife and see what type of pool they they are trained for and have used before.

Have you thought about having a doula? Mine is going to do all the birth pool stuff (DH will probably be in a bit of a panic and all thumbs...)

Oh Tangle thank you for that - very detailed and just what I was looking for :) I spoke to the midwife about it on the phone briefly but she is used to using the birthing clinic up my road (which they conveniently shut down as soon as I found out I was pg) and she has done many a Home Birth so she should be fine with a heated filtered one. I think I'd rather have the filter there as I can use it to relax in before and after the birth (it's going to be a hot summer!).

Thanks for the info re oils too - maybe a burner is the way forward. I was just hoping to get some of the benefits on my lady bits ASAP after the birth and as Tea Tree is a mild antiseptic I thought it might be safe. I guess I wonder what warm water and birth gunk may smell of after a while and the thought isn't pleasant

I did consider a Doula, as my friend is training to be one and was going to use me as one of her coursework people (can't remember what they are called, case studies?). However in the last month she has had a host of personal issues and is now on happy pills, hasn't mentioned any more to do with my birth (frankly she has enough on her plate so don't want to pester her) and I don't think I'd feel comfortable with someone else at such short notice (July). Add to that the fact my friend wasn't going to charge, so with Doula + pool + TENS it might all get a bit costly. I'm planning on hiring the pool for 5 weeks which seems to be the max (looking at babylove?) so hopefully if she hasn't popped out by then they'll have pity on me, but I will double check their policy. Great advice everyone, thank you :)