using BATH/shower (not pool) before going in to hospital...

[vannah]

Hi everyone,
I dont want a homebirth, rather be at hospital, but as I posted a few weeks ago about the hygiene of pools at hospitals, I have since found out from one of the midwives at my hosp, that the pools are not very clean....and that I cant use the showers there either! (this is the whittington by the way)

So, hiring a pool at home not an option, I thought I would stay in my bath or have lots of showers during first stage. Trouble is, I know that you shouldnt get in before 5cm else can slow down.

How on earth am I supposed to know how many cm I am then?? When to climb in? For those of you who used the tub at home for as long as poss, how did you do it?

Also, do you think its worth my trying to hire a private midwife just for the bit at home before going in, and if so. how much does one cost?

thankyou!

never heard that, I was recommended to take a hot-ish bath when labour started both times. I was in the bath for all bar the first hour and the last 10 mins of ds2 labour and it in no way slowed it down.

same, I had both mine in the bath (own tub no fancy birhting pool)and warm water is a vert good pain relief plus I reckon one of the main reasons i didnt tear.

maybe look into a Doula?

I was in early labour but not dilating, MW suggested I got into the bath. It definitely did not slow labour down - DS was born 3 hours later!

thankyou both. Pickie when did you get in the bath

themildmanneredjanitor - what did you do once they were every 2 mins? Did you then jump out and dash to hospital?

I dont know how long I can leave it, and dont want to deliver at home...

this is second baby by the way

thankyou!

was it really horrendous being out of the water those few hours after 11? Sorry to keep bombarding you...

Hmm I didn't know that but for me labour started with my waters breaking and they told me I couldn't have a bath in case of infection

mmm. not sure having a bath slows it down. for me, labour came on fast and furious once i stepped into the bath. why the hell can't you take a shower once you are at hospital and in established labour? id double check with the hospital about the cleanliness of the pools. it would be a shame to miss out on such a wonderful experience.could it be that the mw you spoke to is'nt into water births? not all of them are you know.could it be her personal judgement getting in the way? i have come accross mw who have tried to talk me out of home births because they themselves don't like the idea. just a thought

sorry only just logged in, I had DS in 2003 and DD in 2005, both in our bath and no problems with slowing diwn the labour.

MW might think you are too relaxed in bath and this sometimes does slow down contractions (or so i have been told)

especially the first birth was very realexed and controlled but second one was a lot harder although both in same time (8/5 hours from start to finish)

Well....my personal opinion is, that actually going into water, like a nice bath can help you determine if you are in real labour or not....if you go in and your contractions fizzle out, you aren't in real labour anywya, and if you have a bath and contractions get stronger then you are in real labour.
With es I went to have a bath at around 1 am or so (contractions started around midnight) , got out of the bath at around 4.30am and my contractions had continouesly gotten stronger, and went into Hossie for about 6am and he was born just past 9am...so, certainly didn't stop my labour.
With ms I had a bath, but just couldn't get comfy so, packed my bag instead and walked around the house, and with ys I had 2 baths, and the 2. bath my contractions got so strong, I had to get out, as again, I found it uncomfy...
well, anyway, baths certainly never stopped my contractions...

great, thanks everyone again. So useful to know this.
bubblepop - I had a suspicion that the mw I saw the other day wasnt 'into' water births and so tried to put me off...and her comment about me not being able to use the shower may be more of the same thing. I will look into it, but I dont recall there being any nice showers in the labour ward at the whittington...
might go on a tour again see if any changes...

anyone know how you can tell if your waters break whilst in the bath?

Can't advise as my membranes didn't rupture (or whatever the technical term is).

Sounds a bit as if the mw you spoke to isn't too fond of waterbirths. Waterbirths are a perfectly valid form of pain relief and all midwives should be able to handle them. I think it's a great idea to take a tour and perhaps chat to some other mws, see what they say. The pools certainly should be clean! It's hardly a decent excuse... Our unit has nice deep baths women can use in the early stages - maybe the Whittington has similar?

Anyway, re: getting in before 5cm. Some people do say this (also that staying in the water for more than a couple of hours will slow things down, too) but tbh I'd say: if you want to get in, get in. Don't worry too much about how far on you are in your labour. If the contractions do slow down, you can always get out, walk around, have something to eat/drink then get back in when they start up again.

hm...membrance rupturing, never had that happen in water and with the first 2 it was breaking the waters anyway, ratehr then natural rupture....
however, if you are in labour and your waters go it's not gonna be an issue, and as for knowing, I think depending on which waters go and wen you will have water coming out for a while, also, I believe some women can feel a pop!

With both my labours I used the bath at home and it was fantastic for pain relief. Both times I just instinctively knew when I needed to get in (when the TENs stopped helping). Second time my waters broke just before I got in and I could feel the water gushing out while I was in the bath during contractions.

First time I got out when I felt I couldn't manae the contractions any more, wnet into hospital & was almost fully dilated.

Second time I had ds at home but again felt I needed to be out of the bath.

A rather long winded way of saying get in the bath when you feel you need to !!

vannah, you will be able to tell if your waters break whilst in the bath/pool. you will still feel a distinct 'popping' sensation and a warm gush. good luck i hope all goes well for you and u get what you want.

I would recommend doing what you feel like at the time.

I had a shower at home, and then spent an hour in the bath at the hospital (mostly standing in it, admittedly) before the pool was free. Delivered in the pool, then showered again afterwards.
Lying down was the least comfortable position, would have hated to lie back in a bath.

And I never felt my waters go at any point - lots of people go with a trickle rather than a pop.