Who here has had/is going to have a water birth?

[Ryuk]

So far I've not looked into it very far, although most of what I've read has been very positive. Although MIL was telling me recently that her niece had one, and it went terribly wrong as there was a lot of tearing, which they didn't know about until afterwards as they couldn't see what was going on under the water and she was in too much pain to get out of the pool. So now I'm slightly put off, although still fairly positive about the idea.

On a slightly unrelated note, so far I've also had one male friend try to argue that I should have a homebirth (have considered it, decided against) and one tell me I should have an elective cesarian as otherwise it'll 'ruin my plumbing'. Anyone else been told any strange stuff?

Mostly interested in hearing water birth information/experiences though!

Hi Ryuk,

If you get one second-hand, then you just need a new liner for it (which they recommend using even with a new pool). I think that they're about £25 and easily obtainable on the internet.

Some websites do seem to advertise multi-use pools. I think that these might be for midwives/or to hire though (although I'm just guessing!).

ryuk - I think they just won't guarantee them for multiple person use, but they sell liners which gets round that. I know plenty of people who have used friends etc with a new liner.

I can really recommend water birth - I haven't birthed any other way though! I absolutely loved the warmth and support of the water and can't imagine coping with the 2nd stage without it. I went for a homebirth with BPIAB to maximise my chances of giving birth in the water as my local hospital frequently has no pools free.