Is a home waterbirth with toddler around a bad idea!

[pookey]

I am 36 weeks so a bit disorganised but thinking of buying bpiab or similar. Thing is other than dp we may not be able to have any family around to help look after ds (22 mo). Would adding a big, potentially dangerous for ds, plastic pool to the equation be more hassle than its worth?

Any one have any experience of a similar situation?

Thanks

my dd1 was 19 months old when I had my home water birth. we assembled the pool a couple of days before the Real Thing and the three of us got into it. She had a great time splashing around!

for the actual birth I knew I couldn't cope with her being around, so my mil babysat for us.

do you have friends/neighbours who could help outwith childcare?

well you DO need to treat it as any other body of water and make sure your ds can't access it. An easy way to do this would be to put a high up lock on the door of the room where its assembled (after the birth it might be a while before you get round to dismantling it .

it is great - just make sure you ahve osmeone who can be with your toddler incase they wake. The pool is only up for the labour.

All mine were there for the births of their siblimgs - alseep though!!! oh apart fomr the last one - they were at school and ds1 cut the cord

Belgo not really, there is a friend who has offered to come round with her ds and occupy him but dp wouldnt like it and I wouldnt be keen either tbh. My mum may be able to look after ds it all depends on when i go into labour as my dad is having an operation.

Maybe i could get one and do a trial run then if it seems too difficult sell it? I like the idea of it, but the logistics are tricky and our house isnt that big. I guess i could be with ds while it is set up and dismantled then dp could look after him while I am in it?

fillyjonk that is a sensible suggestion but not sure I want to put bolts on doors will keep it in mind though.

B&B I am really really hoping ds will be asleep would be perfect so fingers crossed!

ooh just had an idea along the lines of a lock - stair gate across door!!

can you hire one? That's what we do.

How do you dismantle those things? I've got images of repeated bucket emptying out the front door??

we had a pump system and hose that emptied the pool very fast - a bit too fast in fact - we did get quite a lot of water splashed onto the wallpaper! WHich is why it's important to try it out first.

Belgo I think it works out cheaper to buy an inflaitable one - even with all the extras its only about £100. I do like the idea of one that would stay heated and have a cover etc though, how did you find hiring one worked out with convenience of them collecting it and costs etc?

Mine would be straight in it . Very early sibling bonding?!

Best of luck!

I'm in Belgium, so I'm sure it's different to hiring a pool in the UK

my ds was 20m when had a homebirth with a bpiab - the labour started after I put ds to bed and dd was born in the am while gp's looked after him. He was woken by my mooing noises in the early hours - but as we had a midwife here by then it wasn't a problem - dh kept an eye on him until gp's were able to come over.

Go for it

we didn't put water in it till labour established - so no problem with ds getting in. We were more worried about the cats pricking the inflatable sides with claws tbh!

I had a home birth with 2.5 year old DS1 around. We had a BPIAB but didn't fill it until I was in proper labour - which luckily was after DS1 went to bed. The baby was born at dawn and the pool emptied later that day so all was fine.
Would highly recommend it, found the water was fantastic pain relief.
Good luck...

It might be worth having one and if the situation feels ok we can put it up if not we will get back what money we can from reselling. If I go into the labour in the eve it would be a shame that i hadnt gone ahead and purchased one. Thanks everyone

You can resell them easily on ebay, for almost the same as they cost new - I watched a few on ebay and there was lost of bidding....

I am 38wks and have hired a pool and have a 19mth old ds with no-one other than DH to look after him. I have a lockable cover, which you won't I guess, but you probably also won't fill it till in labour anyway otherwise you'd lose the temperature. What I plan to do is:

1. Pray that it's the middle of the night and he's asleep
2. Have DH watch him until it comes to 'crunch' time when I really need him
3. have some ideas written out for DH to do with him when its crunch time - like putting him in the playpen/travel cot in the same room or different room with a CD playing (may take practice if yours isn't used to this!), or parking him in front of a DVD in his highchair in the next room. After that I've run out of ideas! Get the midwives to play with him maybe

Oh dear, now its sounding like I'm out of my mind doing this. maybe I should hire a doula just to watch him!

Beartime, I hired a doula mainly for the extra back up support in case we needed someone to mind DS1.
Since DS2 was born at 4am we didnt need her to look after DS1 in the end, but she was great and I found her presence very calming, so it might be worth doing anyway. She was much more supportive than the midwives who were a bit bossy!

Beartime, I just attended a birth where I whisked the toddler upstairs so mum could concentrate in the pool, twas mum's request and as her 2nd stage was so short I didn't get back down in time to be at the birth. I was just considering leaving the toddler with his sis as they were both settled and slipping away, hoping he wouldn't try to follow, when we were shouted down to meet the baby. Doulas are there to support emotionally and physically in whatever form required.