So, for those who had a home water birth..............

[Overtiredmum]

at what stage did you order your birthing pools? Am "planning" a home water birth for DC2 but decision won't be made til 37 weeks, am currently 32 weeks BUT............. I won't have access readily to the internet after 36 weeks as don't have it at home.

So.......... when should I order it. Am reluctant to do it now as I don't want to jinx anything...............

Sorry to hijack but could someone please tell me how much space you need to have a birthing pool at home and where in your house you plan to set yours up?

I'm 22 weeks today and want to have a home birth, in a birthing pool if poss. We've got a reasonably spacious kitchen / dining area but not sure how much space we'd need....birthing pools look kind of big. (Our bathroom is tiny so that would definitely not be an option).

TIA x

NotSo, sorry, I had to log off...

I think the questions have been answered and I agree. The inflatable pools are very padded all round, big and spacious(I had the one for tall ladies)and they are deep enough to cover you to the underarms/sholders for the most part. They are sturdy and if I was going to do it all again, I wouldn't have a different pool to the BPIAB.

LittleDoe, I haven't had a homebirth, so no experience, but if you go onto the Birth Pool In A Box website, they have a comprehensive Q&A and advice page/s. The only thing I know is that you need to ensure your floors are strong enough to take the weight of a filled pool. I can't imagine that you'd need too much more space around the pool other than enough to have the appropriate people get around it fairly easily and of course, they are possibly going to be sitting or kneeling. HTH.

LittleDoe, just to say if you're worried about space we had the Made in Water pool which is a bit smaller than BPIAB, have just measured the space we put it in and it was about 2.5x1.5m and that includes pool and space on three sides for MW to get around. I'm 5'8" and had plenty of room inside to get comfy and lie down. Also because it's a bit smaller than BPIAB it takes less water and weighs less, which was important for us (dodgy old floorboards!)

madeinwater.co.uk/pool.html

(PS no I'm not on commission )

Oh and to add, it was at the end of the living room near the kitchen door so we could get the hose to it to fill up. When it came to emptying, DH just stuck the end of the hose out the kitchen door. The hose is pretty long (in fact it was just a normal garden hose as far as we could tell) so you might want to do a few measurements to the nearest tap, whichever pool you decide on.