Water birth at home - have to have it in the kitchen or not at all...what do you think?

[rubles]

I will hopefully be moving house before the birth of this baby. My last was born in this house in the lounge in water, and I would very much want to do it the same way again. I asked the surveyor to look at the floorboards of the new property to tell me if the bedroom floor would be strong enough for a birth pool. He is going round today and said that due to its age (early Victorian) it almost certainly wouldn't be able to take the weight.

This threw me into a panic, as I can't imagine coping without the water after a certain point. It feels like flying the trapeze without a safety net.
Dp said we could put a pool in the basement where there is a large open plan kitchen/living area, but I can't imagine making that area cosy because it is big, light and airy, and it is a kitchen. Surely I might as well go into hospital??

Another thing about that idea is that the bedroom is two floors above the basement and the toilet is one floor above, so I would have to be tramping up and down stairs.

I am in a tizz. Anyone else planned it and done it nicely in the kitchen? Am I attaching too much significance to the water?

min were al bortn at home and the last in the kitchen diner just after moving in. candles and soft music makes it seem very different

My sister had similar problem and put pool in the kids playroom. Fortunately it was warm and dark..... there were candles....she'd covered the floor with throws old sheets.
It was lovely.... really magical
and the room is the last thing you're thinking of during birth.
I think you'll be absolutely fine as long as you can pull curtains or blackout in someway.
good luck

Hi Rubles,
I'm hoping to have a water birth in our kitchen in the next few days (fingers crossed). Our house is also early victorian, and i didn't even ask anyone if it'd be ok to put a pool upstairs, because it would be so catastrophic if it leaked! Let alone if it went through the floor... In your case I'd wonder more about the loo/bedroom question - could you have the pool on the same floor as the loo? Another thing to think about is getting a smaller pool (inflatables seem to be lighter than the solid ones). I think they say they are like having 10 people in your room - and if the floor can't cope with that then you've got problems anyway! Surveyors are super-cautious...
Good luck with the decision, and I'm sure you could make the kitchen v cosy.

Sweetie, it will be really different from hospital wherever in the house you are. I'd stick with the house and the water, and compromise on the room if you must.

I didn't even have candles or soft lighting, but it was fab.

Oh and I stomped up to the loo a couple of times - not marvellous but not awful.

oh yes, being at home & in water is wonderful. Doesn't really matter in which room.

Er, I gave birth to DD at home, in the large kitchen,using a pool. No problem. I must be missing what the problem with the kitchen? Better than the bathroom (or anywhere with a toilet in it, that's for sure). Now that would be YUCK.

And kitchens usually have practical floor for cleaning the mess.

Kitchen will be fine - and wee in a bucket if you can't get up the stairs!

How big is your pool? I was told that a small Splashdown inflatable pool is the weight of 8 people when fille, so if you couldn't have a party in your room, you can't have the pool.

But I can see that worry about crashing through the floor wouldn't make for a calm birth...

I had a water birth in our bedroom on 100 year old floorboards. We put it in the corner which is the strongest area, and tried it out before hand with a very fast pump on stand by if we suddenly started to hear any worrying creaks.

If you don't want to risk it, then use the kitchen. Far more homely then a hospital

I had a birthing pool on floorboards in a victorian terrace house and it was fine although i had had worries about that too! But my mw had actually had her babies on a similar floor with a pool so she reassurd me.. the room i had my ds in was actually the dining room which i also thought might be a bit cold and unfriendly but with lots of cushions, candles and fairylights it was great! (We did move the table out first btw! But my dh always likes to tell guests when they are eating their dinner the exact spot where his son was born)
It was the most amazing experience of my life - having my first LO at home in water, would really recommend it and the water was a huge help. All the best

Rubles - i had exactly the same worries as you with the 3rd story floor boards of a very crumble victorian house. I agree with little frog re the 10 people in your room guideline and suspect that your surveyor is being over cautious. In the end we went for it but did use a quite small inflatable pool. The floorboards were fine but the pool took a beating (i was in there for a loooooong time).
Why not try both rooms out (your bedroom and kitchen) with pool filled and all your birth props and see where you feel safest and most comfortable. If you decide to go for the kitchen - you could section off a private nesting area by hanging some material/ sheets. You've done this before so i'm sure you know exactly the environment you need.
I imagine you'll feel a whole lot better about things after you've moved and know the new house better.
Wishing you a wonderful birth at home.

Thank you everyone, you've put my mind at rest. Those of you who have said that I probably need to move in first have a made a good point. At the moment it is somebody else's house and I am planning this from memory.
I will hire the pool and try out the various options. It is good to know that others of you have done it in older houses, so I may try out a trial run to see how that goes.

I feel much better about it now. As many of you suggested, I might be over-thinking it and as long as I make it dark enough and have somewhere comfy to be then the environment won't matter so much.