Hiring a tens machine..

[shhhh]

With the birth of dd I used my mums tens machine ( on loan from hospital due to medical problems.) But this time I need to hire my own..advice please. I want to sort it now as I;m 21 weeks and need to get myself ready earlier rather than later. Where's the best place..and what price..?

I went to Boots, they were very helpful. I was about 35 weeks when I went in so I'd left it a bit late but they weren't bothered. I paid about £30. The other option is to look on ebay

Are you having a hospital birth? I used one for dd1 and 3, and the hospital I had them at rented them out (2 different hosps at opposite ends of the country so assume this is standard practice?). Might be worth asking the midwife.

Hired mine from Boots. Can't remember how much but compared favourably with other places.

You order and collect from the shop but return it by post in a pre-paid jiffy-bag. Came with spare batteries too.

thanks everyone. Our hospital has a supply in but won't hire any out. Their stock is for emergencies...

I know this following parents craft classes when expecting dd. In fact the tens I had was either useless, was doing me no good or the batteries had run out so ended up with the hospital one anyway.

Will check out boots.. Thanks

Or mail order from mothercare which I think was £25.

ah thanks, I remember seeing them in mothercare catalogue now..

Are they in a good condition..? They are not dirty iykwim..? Sorry to sound "snobbish"...

I hired my last one from New Road Clinic and am hiring this time round from Tens Hire

Both of these are slightly cheaper than Boots/Mothercare and the Tens Hire one comes with 6 weeks hire as standard. It has also arrived on the agreed date - 3 weeks before I am due.

My hospital doesnt hire out or have any either, i didnt think Boots were to helpful and you couldnt even have it until 38 weeks so im going with Toys 'r' us, they are cheaper aswell.

Seona1973 - can I ask why you have decided not to go with the new road clinic this time around? i've booked mine through them and was just wondering whether there was a problem?
Thanks

I hired mine from Lloyds Chemist. It was all very clean and everything - the sticky on pads are disposable

510fudge, the New Road Clinic didnt have a website last time so I booked by post. By the time I realised they had a website available this time I had already booked and paid for the Tens-Hire one. The New Road Clinic one arrived when it was supposed to and seemed to work (although I havent had a baby without one so nothing to compare it to!!) and it got sent back no problem as well.

Best of all, they are cheap - I think they may even be slightly cheaper than the one I have hired this time but thats the way it goes sometimes . I certainly had no problems with the New Road Clinic and would have used them again this time if I'd known they did online hire.

Thanks Seona1973 - am glad you didn't go with them because they were really crappy last time!!

510fudge - just wanted to say I ordered a tens machine from New Road Clinic at 3.30 yesterday afternoon and it arrived at 10am this morning - so I am very impressed with the service they offer.

I have a 2 TENS machines that i hire out. They are Ladycare TENS machines which are considered to be vey easy to use and user friendly. The cost is £23 for 4 weeks hire and I post it out to you and you post it back when your finished. Please contact me if you want further information [email protected]

I hired mine from Boots too.

I've got mine from boots - had a 'false' labour last week (blummin painful though!) and it really helped - because the pads are reusable (new though, and you chuck them when you're done with them) I can use it again when things happen properly. They didn't let me have it until 37 wks though - they said it was because there's a possibility it can induce labour. It was £29.99 + £25 refundable deposit.

Word of caution - check your TENS works before you're in labour!

I got mine from the physio dept at the hospital. Worked fine until I tried pressing the boost button on the top setting and it kept jamming, so no boost during contractions. Not what you want when you're 5cm dilated and labouring fast after an induction!

Ended up with an epidural I would probably have needed anyway, but the faulty TENS sold it to me a bit sooner than I'd anticipated.

I hired mine from www.tensmachinedirect.co.uk cost £25 6 weeks hire Fantastic

I hired mine from www.babytens.net it was £19.95 for 6 weeks hire. was well worth it.

i have just bought an obi tens for £15 (Inc P&P) on ebay

bought buy someone who tested it but didnt actually use it in labour.
(so it even comes with fresh pads )

Cheaper than hiring, and i can use it for any more children that i happen to have too... (though will need to buy some more pads at about £5 a time)

Or i could sell it after birth (as still a current model etc) and get what i paid for it and buy another one next time.

There are loads going on ebay, most used once, some never used and it often costs less to buy one of these then it does to hire, and you can sell it afterwards too, so get all / most of your money back

Yes, I second nannyl - I bought mine (ElleTENS) from Amazon I think - was a really good price/offer at the time, then sold on eBay afterwards for about £15/20 less than I had paid.

Worked out cheaper than hiring and I knew I had it for as long as I needed - as I was 10 days overdue I would have been getting anxious if I'd hired one and then needed to sort out returning it right after the birth.

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