Do you recommend birth pool for homebirth?

[Lizbiz89]

I'm due to have my third in October and hoping to have a homebirth this time as my second arrived very quickly. Just wondering if i need to have a birth pool? I have room in my kitchen but I'm not sure if I can be bothered with the fuss of it. I'll probably spend majority of the early stage in the bath anyway. Would be good to hear other experiences of home births and whether you used one or not.

I think it depends how big your bath is!

The birth pool is a lot more comfortable than your standard bath as it's bigger and softer. I really liked mine and it wasn't a faff (I don't think - husband did all that!). My labour was only 4 hours and I do think the hot water was the only comfort measure that touched the sides.

I don't think I would have been as comfortable in the bath, especially on my knees as I was at the end and just fully floating for the rest of it!

I had one for both my homebirths (in our tiny flat) and found them amazing for pain relief and also having ‘my space’. The faff of putting up/ clearing away definitely worth it (although DH did all that anyway!)

I had one and it was so different from the bath. Spent the whole labour and delivery in there. Inflatable floor so my knees didn't hurt and I could lean forwards for optimal positioning. When I was pushing I could really spread out as well. Also, emptying the bath at the end could be tough on the drain if you deliver in there. The pools come with an emptying pump to put the water down the toilet.

I'm going to say no.
A) I hated being in water in labour, unusually found it much more painful (not that I tried it for long)
B) if you have quick labours you might not get to use it
C) I'm not sure I'd have wanted dh faffing with a pool whist I was in labour

Did you want/have a water birth for your others? Clearly it works for many women, but I wonder if it's maybe something you have to actively want. Personally I'm very happy with my 3 dry homebirths.

Ds2 - labour was so fast didn’t manage to get in and gave birth on bathroom floor.

dd1 - didn’t bother in case of another fast labour and created a ‘nest’ on my bedroom floor with lots of duvets and blankets

have heard good things from friends who went this route though!

Thanks for the replies everyone! @BouncingWorms I "technically" had one with my last but he was born so fast I was only in it for 15 minutes. I can't say if it relieved anything to be honest as I was literally crowning by the time I got in. The only reason I thought of having one was for mess? Maybe it keeps it more contained? But yeah my second labour was only 55 minutes from first consistent contraction so I worry that I'd spend all this money on one and I just won't have time or the need to use it.

If it's literally just about the mess rather than pain relief then I think the bath will be fine and probably easier to clean up. Not that you should worry about the mess, but I get the worry.

I agree with @BouncingWorms after what you've said. Just get a sieve for the plug hole...🙃

I had one and loved it! Really helped with pain and positioning etc. I didn’t get in until I was 8cm but it was such a relief and really helped with pushing. I wouldn’t worry about set up/mess, you won’t have to do it! I set it up in advance a few days before my due date and it was very relaxing setting up the space, putting candles out etc.
I do think it minimises any mess, depends on the layout of your house too I think. My pool was in the dining room (hard floor), whereas the bedroom and lounge were both carpeted so would have been very stressful birthing in either of those!

agree with everyone else on the bath - great for early stages but will get very uncomfy when pushing/if you want to be on your knees. I spent a lot of my time in the pool resting my head on the side and gripping the handle. Mine wasn’t too big but had a little chair which was nice too.

also worth speaking the homebirth team - I think some trusts will supply one free. If not you can rent them which is what I did. Also worth speaking to the midwives if you want to actually give birth in the bath - I believe it’s not allowed at least in some trusts as they aren’t deep enough and this can cause issues so worth checking.

I had two dry homebirths.
2nd baby, I’d ordered a pool, went into labour (4 weeks early) on the day the pool was due to be delivered 🤷🏻‍♀️😂 Baby arrived before the pool did.
3rd baby arrived in a hurry, so wouldn’t have had time to get the pool up and filled even if I’d wanted to!
Was totally fine without one though. Had plastic sheets (the kind you use for DIY) covering the sofas and carpets (including the hallway and up the stairs to the bathroom) and the midwives brought a ton of those giant bed pads with them. As for pain management without the pool, I spent a lot of time during my second labour on all fours, rocking over my birthing ball, watching old re-runs of Greys Anatomy and shooting the shit with my midwife between contractions 😂
Third labour was thick and fast - just under an hour from first contraction, so didn’t have much time to do anything other than freak out that my waters had broken all over my sofa before I’d had chance to get the plastic sheets out 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️😂