Home birthing pools - some questions

[Kopparbergkate]

Hi, I'm hoping to have DC2 at home in a pool. I have some questions... can anyone help?

I've noticed other people talking about pools being great for relaxation in the days/weeks before labour starts; do you need to keep emptying and refilling the pool everyday, do you need a new liner everyday and if not, how do you make sure its clean enough on the day of the races?

Did anyone ho had a pool bother to get the strength of their floor checked in advance and if so, by whom, builder? surveyor?

My MW already knows I want a home birth, do I need to spell out that I'm intending to get a pool or are all HB MW's water trained?

Cheers in advance if anyone can shed any light on these :)

I have had 4 lovely home water births (and now a pool for sale )

No, I have never checked the strength of the floor, but always had pool downstairs.

I have never used a liner with the pool, DH just scrubs it with milton before and after

With DC1 I didn't get the pool far enough in advance to use it much beforehand. With DC2 DC1 loved to have his bath in it (partially filled) for about a week beforehand. With DC4 I didn't dare fill it before D day for fear of the entire ground floor being turned into a swimming pool by over enthusiastic trio of older siblings!

I have always told MWs I was planning a water birth and there has never been an issue. Sometimes they may say 'you could be asked to get out of th water for delivery if the MW isn't happy', but I never have been :)

Good luck

I'm a student midwife in the States and we may have different regulations here than there for waterbirths, but these are some of our general guidelines:

I would definitely check the strength of your flooring as full-tubs are extremely taxing on older floors. Try to keep it on a main level if you can. Buying a sump pump (not sure if that's what they are called over there...basically a motorized pump that can be submerged in water and attached to a hose for draining) is a great way for you to have an easy clean-up. Just putting one end of the hose in the toilet or in the bathtub drain is the easiest way to empty the tub. I would definitely get two hoses-one for filling and one for draining so that you aren't contaminating the fresh water going in if you've used the tub for baths before the birth. I would also recommend getting a liner for the birth itself. If you own the pool and take baths in it, fine....but you want to make sure the water is as clean as possible for the birth by using a liner.

Hth!

Thanks both. I'm planning on having it downstairs in the corner of the living room (which is where the floor is strongest) anyway so I might just keep my fingers crossed. Can't imagine how a surveyor could check anyway - we had a full structural survey when we bought the place and they wouldn't comment on the state of the floor boards/joists because they couldn't get access to them under the fitted carpet...

So did your DH milton the pool every night afetr DC1's bath then Yorky?

As a homebirth midwife, I have done a lot of pool births.
: I was told that the weight of a filled pool is about the same as 10-12 adults or an upright piano. If your floor can take that, you should be ok.
:In some areas, not all the mws have had experience in pool births and are reluctant to facilitate them. Check with your local mw. If she raises it as an issue, escalate to the local Supervisor of midwives.
:not many people use the pool pre-labour. There are issues with keeping the water warm and avoiding bacterial growth in that warm water. It is worth having a practice run with filling and emptying and you can get in and see what it feels like.
:In your practice run, check you have the right tap adapters for filling. Recently a dad had to fill with buckets from the shower due to this.
: A pump to empty is really good. Run the hose into your loo or outside drain. The dad above also had to bucket empty the pool.

Def check with your MW about using the pool. I was told for my HB that, as not all the community MW that could be on call on the day would be trained in delivering the baby in the pool, it might not be possible to have the water birth if I planned it. I think they would have been fine if I'd used it during labour only though.

However, I didn't bother in the end. Good job too, because it took less than 1.5hrs for him to arrive once the MW did, & we wouldn't have had the pool filled!!