Birthpool before hospital???

[Holly290505]

I would love a home delivery but for various reasons I have been told I can't. However I have also been told to stay at home 'as long as possible' before going in.

Am just wondering the pain relief/relaxation benefits of getting an inexpensive birthpool like these for early labour. Is there any point? (Other than tempting me to stay at home anyway) and has anyone done this? Would there be any benefit over using the bath??

How do you fill these up btw? Attach a hose to a tap? I can't attach hoses to any of my downstairs taps...

Hmmm hadn;t thought about that one properly! I guess the same way you would a kids paddling pool outside. Buckets, kettles and/or hose! Not sure I fancy DP being busy with that whilst I moan. Mind you I suppose plenty of time for first timer?

Ooops read the FAQs - here is the answer -

How do I fill the birth pool?
Fill your pool with a 1/2" NEW garden hose pipe (to ensure safety in hygiene) which is connected to your tap with a NEW tap connector. Filling time varies widely according to the water supply. It can be as little as 45 minutes from a high pressure combi boiler, up to 3-4 hours from a small tank that takes an hour to refill. Always place the heat retention cover (from the Kit) on top of the water during filling. For the Deluxe pool, the small extra piece of heat cover can be left off while filling, creating a space for the hose. Once the birth pool is filled, remove the filling hose. The filling hose should never be in the water after the mother has entered the birth pool. Use kettles of hot water and boil pans of water on your stove if you have small water tank or slow hot water system. Never pour boiling water near the sides or near a person in the pool.

Use an adaptor for your tap or detach the hose from the pipe that feeds the washing machine and attach hose there :-)

i had bath before going in to hospital, was no where near as good as birth pool because i had to be all twisted up to keep my bump underwater, and the more it is covered the better the pain relief. would talk to your midwife about wanting to use the birth pool, they may say to go in earlier. i think they say to leave it partly because of the boredom factor of staying in hospital for ages

Holly: BTW I think I would have found this useful for my first labour - laboured at home for 17 hours before going to hospital (27 hours in total) and I think anything that would have helped me relax a bit more during my time at home would have been really helpful.

Good points Tipex, thanks!

great, great pain relief - wasn't allowed in mine till got to 10cm tho - not sure if you can go in earlier, once stage 1 established or not, but shouldn't go in too soon as apparently can slow you down. Check out active birth centre - lots of info, can advise you. Failing that, if you want to save lots of hassle (and money) could just go for a humble bath/shower for pain relief - I spent much of stage 1 huddled on a low stool under our shower!

UCH Birthing Unit will let you into the Birthing Pool once you're 5cm, but not a mm before . Once you're in there, the only other pain relief you can have is gas and air (if you want pethidine, you have to get out of the pool).