Birth Pool In a Box vs La Bassine....

[sammysam]

Which one is best? If you have used one or the other please can you tell me good/bad points.
Need to order mine soon and not sure which one to go for !

I used Birth Pool in a Box. It was very comfortable, with plenty of room to stretch out & robust sides to hang on to.

During labour I could hear cursing & chaotic noises coming from downstairs. I was tickled to see that DP was soaking wet, red faced & sweating looking totally strung out. "You look worse than me" I cheerfully told him. This was because he couldn't get the tap attachments on for the hose to fill it. The midwife left me to assist him

Which one did you have and where from? Also how tall are you?

Oooh, Sammy I couldn't remember the details so I looked them up & it wasn't Birth Pool in a Box , it was La Bassine & I ordered it from Made in Water (online shop). It arrived next day, which was great as I'd left it a bit last minute. I'm 5'6'.*

My friend bought a robust but inflatable jacuzzi which she said was cheaper than hiring a birthing pool and it was bigger. She didn't get to use it but her kids now have it in the garden

I used La Bassine. I can't remember the timings exactly, but the pool was inflated and filled within 25 minutes.

I am 5'10" and it was more than big enough for me to stretch my legs out in. The inflatable sides could also take my considerable weight when slumped over them mooing like a cow

I have a BPIAB (Eco mini version) which I used 2 years ago and an looking forward to re-using any day now!

I am 5ft 4 and it was big enough for me to be comfortable but I didn't spend much time in there tbh. I got it over la bassine because of the handles. Good for pushing.

It takes about 10 minutes to inflate with an electric pump and about 30 mins to fill with our combi boiler.

I borrowed a Birth Pool in a Box froma friend and it was lovely! DH had no trouble with the technical side, I enjoyed (as much as one can enjoy anything in labour!) floating about in it!

The only down side was that when I spent ages draped over one side it kinda leaned over and sagged where I was so the water nearly slopped out over the carpet. But the MW just chose a tactful moment between contractions to point this out and I moved to the other side.

I still have a spare liner I need to sell.... must dig it out...

Oh, and I'm 5'3.

I leant over the side in the same spot most of the time & the pool handled it no problem at all. Tap issues more to do with DPs' blind panic & not so much as glancing at the instructions beforehand than a real technical issue . (Get your designated pool filler au fait with the kit beforehand.) Retained heat well too, just an occasional top up from the kettle. I was in there for a few hours but felt compelled to leap out at transition . Bonkers given how pain-relieving it had been but basic biology seemed to be demanding birthing onto dry land. This is not uncommon apparently.

Thank you everyone- so looks like they are both good then

I'm 5'7 and don't want to feel squished up.
I'm really quite looking forward to it BUT just very worried that something will happen and I won't be able to use it.

Still not sure which one maybe i'll just have to look around and find a good deal to make my mind up

I had a bassine, it was fab. Am also 5'7" and there was plenty of space to stretch out, did a lot of the pushing stage on knees with my arms over the side and it was a good height. Filled up fine on our practice run, on the day the boiler wasn't quite up to it and poor dh was back and forth with kettle, pans of hot etc!

I had the Mini BPIAB -easy to inflate/fill, very comfy (though I ended up in hospital so only really used it for early labour).

Onl problem was that the tap adaptor didn't fit on our kitchen tap - so we had a hosepipe from the bathroom window into the living room window to fill it up

Annie - can I buy the liner??? Is it for a round pool? I was a bit dumbfounded that the shape of all the pools now seems to be oval and my pool is round (had my pool from Feb 2007). I emailed them asking what I should do and never heard back.

Just a quick thought-does the BPIAB have handles?

I like the idea of the seat in the bigger BPIAB but handles would come in very handy moving my whale like body around and out of the pool!

Also how many times did you get out of the pool when you were in labour? I remember going to the loo loads in labour with dd-we have no downstairs toilet so it is going to be fun!

Annie - have just heard back from the BPIAB people and have ordered a new liner (they were v good and told me the cheapest option and v nice lady on the phone!).