Question for SueW about 'pool in a box'

[mears]

Remember I said we got one in a previous thread for the unit? It was used for the first time last week but there was a real problem with maintaining water temperature. Any tips?

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where are you SueW?

Probably busy at the moment as her dd has just had an op.

Hi mears,

Was it the mini or the regular from pool in a box? I was thinking of getting the mini or the one from Made in water as I thought the temperature will be easier to maintain if the pool was small.

Both site advise to add hot kettle of water. How did you do it in hospital? Did the lady gave birth in the pool or did she have to go out because you could not get the water warm enough.

I want to get one of those inflatables so any comment you may have, would be very useful.

molls

Hi Molls, I actually don't know whether she delivered in it or not. Will need to find out. It was the pool that is for women up to 6 feet.

Filling it was a bit of a hassle as the hose did not fit tap in the room. Had to feed hose from actual pool room which did not have a mixer tap. I am sure there are solutions so hopefully SueW will be about soon

Sorry mears hadn't seen this until someone pointed it out to me today.

I've passed your query on i.e. highlighted this thread. I've been taking a break since mid-Jan as DD has had op (which had unexpected complications involving a longer-than-anticipated stay in hospital and time off school). I'm not aware of anyone else having this problem in partic with BPIAB but someone will get back to you, I promise.

Sorry I'm not Sue but I do some work for Birth Pool in a Box. Mears please call Adam or Amy at The Good Birth Co/Birth Pool in a Box, they need some more details of whats happening with your pool and will be able to give you some advice on pool temps and sourcing a tap adapter that will work with mixer taps! I know they will want to work with you to get the pool working right for your unit.

mears, here is a lengthier answer from Adam at BPIAB.

Birth-Pool-in-a-Box is in its early days for use in maternity units and we are working with units to overcome obstacles and issues like these so that many more women can have access to water than in the past. Many of these are the same issues that people work through when they use pools at home, and some are specific to the hospital environment.

Answering the specific issues:

Tap connectors: We can work on alternatives if we know what is required. We supply two that work with many types of tap in our sample kits for units to evaluate. If we can talk to "mears" or someone at the unit, we can help.

Water temperature: I'd like to know more about what happened here. For example:

• is the comment relative to experience with other birthing pools or not?
• what was the temperature drop over what length of time?
• was the floating heat retention cover used during filling and up to the time the woman entered the pool?
• were windows in the room opened?
• what actions were taken to maintain water temperature?

Birthing pools without heaters generally lose approximately 1-1.5 deg Celsius per hour with the heat cover off. Therefore there is often a need to
top up with hot water (and remove water if the pool is getting full). This can be a great task to assign to the partner, making him/her feel part of
the team.

Let me know the answers on the temperature and I can respond in more detail.

Thanks
Adam

SueW, so sorry to hear that things were not straightforward with dd's op. You are on here so rarely these days I am doing a swift hijack. How are things now?

Getting better thanks Marina. I can't remember wehther I have posted details of what happened in the op on here.

DD has spent 2.5 days at school this week and did half days last week. She's tired but it's easy to forget she's had major surgery when all she has to show for it are five tiny scars on her abdomen!

So far her swallowing seems better but not ocunting chikcens yet as it was fine for 5-6 weeks after the last op before it all went wrong again.

If you did then I missed them
Really hoping it comes good for you all this time Sue

Thanks Sue - I dodn't realise your DD was in hospital when I originally posted. Hope it issuccessful and she is improving.

I will find out more about the problem. The pool was literally being filled for the woman to enter - there wasn't a heat retention cover on during that time though. Temp dropped from 35 degrees to 31 degrees pretty rapidly.

I will ensure that Adam or Amy are contacted if need be - I presume their contact numbers came with the box.

You/the midwives who were involved with the labour and birth can call on 0800 035 0514. Good luck!

Marina, a 'nick' was made in Stephi's oesophagus as they were cutting the muscles surrounding it. This hole then had to be repaired and a nasal-gastric tube inserted to drain the stomach. Instead of Steph being able to eat and drink immediately afterwards, she was nil by mouth for a further 4 days, losing 10% of her body weight over the course of her stay.

But receovery has been good anyway - she's a star

just a quick post about the answer about the pool in a box reply by Adam

were windows in the room opened?
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We are women not polar bears.

I can confirm window was closed

Not like our local hospital where I just spent five days with DD tghen? Every window open and everyone still wandering round in t-shirts! No wonder local trusts are going bust - too much heating and it's all heading out of the windows!

I found the cover worked well - I folded it in half and kept it on whilst in the pool, MW removed it when it got close to pushing stage.

apparently my local hospital has 3 of these and have to iron the kinks out, othrwise rate them highly,. 1 prob was the water temp for the hospital in general not being high enough (scalding hazard?) so had to correct this in delivery rooms.

MW stole the £1.49 mirror I bought too to use in the unit - maybe one should be included with the pool as she thought it was fab and improved visibility!