I found an Ebay seller stocking exactly the same digital thermometer (suitable for room and bath use) sold on the MIW website for £11.50, but costs only £6.49 (inclusive of P&P) from the Ebay seller. And the seller had 5 of these available!
As for the electric submersible water pump, its easy to buy a brand new one that's powerful enough to drain water from ponds and swimming pools from any hardware or DIY store. I got a 230V 400 Watt submersible water pump from Machine Mart that costs £35 brand new! So I think renting one from BPIAB for £25 plus £10 for return postage is pretty expensive considering you don't even get to keep it afterwards. What if I want to use the pool as a paddling pool or for subsequent births later? Can't go hiring water pumps every time right?
Shopping for a food grade hose is a bit more tricky. Most caravaning supply shops sell food grade quality water hoses in varying lengths because people travelling in caravans usually need to get drinking water from taps on campsites... So if you have a caravaning supply shop near you, worth checking them out as you can choose whatever length of hose you prefer. Maybe you need something shorter than 10 metres or slightly longer than 10 metres... Hoses are charged by the metre, so I don't want to be paying more for more hose than I need. Most food grade hoses are coloured blue anyway, so that might help you when you buy a hose to make sure you're buying the right one.
Lastly, I'm not even sure if its really necessary to use a food grade hose unless you are intending to reuse the hose again for filling the birth pool for a subsequent birth... I got a reply email from Barbara Harper (the founder/director of Waterbirth International at www.waterbirth.org) when I enquired about this issue, and this was what she said :
"For the short time that you are using your hose - for one birth - personally, I don't think it matters.
If you, however, were going to reuse the hose and continue using it, I would invest in a potable drinking water hose.
We sell the good hoses and provide them in our kits as a public service.
Hope that answers your question.
--
Blessings,
Barbara
Founder/Director
Waterbirth International
www.waterbirth.org
503-673-0026 - office of WBI
503-710-7975 - cell phone
We LOVE helping women get into Hot Water!!
and have been doing it for 20 years!!
"
As for tap connectors, I find it easy and more reassuring to go to a DIY store like B&Q to look for the right one that will fit my particular tap. There have been people whose taps just don't fit the supposedly universal ones supplied by BPIAB or MIW... Lets face it, not all our taps are the same, are they? At least if I go to the store myself, I can inspect make sure I find the right one to fit my tap (and if it doesn't, I can always return it.)
As for the step stool, well... my 3.5 year old daughter uses a plastic step stool from ASDA to help her climb onto the toilet! I could use that stool to get in and out of the pool, but don't think I will need it as the height of inflatable pools are quite low anyway.
Don't think heat retention covers are necessary... as I only plan to get into the pool at 5 - 6 cms dilation, I probably won't be staying in the pool for more than 5 hours max from labour to birth...