Birth pool reccomendations

[luna28]

Hi there,
I'm due 23/3/11 and planning home waterbirth, but I am totally stumped as to what pool to buy, what have you got? or did you use?
Grateful for any views thanks.

 

[Mervs Mum]

I love my la bassine and there's an excellent offer on them with all the bits and bobs ATM. The aquaborn looks nice but I don't know anyone who's used one and birth pool in a box gets good reviews too. The good birth company website has a good comparision table on it which I'd link you to but I'm on my phone! x

 

[MummyMagoo]

I didnt get to use it in labour but i did a trial run of the birth pool in a box mini eco and it was fab!
Quite dinky but still roomy iykwim and you can buy it with all the bits
I got mine off ebay brand new for £50

https://www.birthpoolinabox.co.uk/birth-pool-eco-mini

 

[PeanutBean]

I didn't get to get in mine so can't rate it and haven't seen any others but our MW team have a bunch of pool in a box pools so they must be ok.

 

[Ju_bubbs]

I was going for the aquaborn eco mini, but I've been through 2 of them in the last couple of weeks and both split dramatically during the practice setups!! I had an email from the head boss ater I sent the 2nd pool back saying that because their pool is a new design, they are now testing the whole batch but not in time for my due date! Which is a pain, coz ive since bought the la bassine pool and MUCH prefer the aquaborn!

However, the la bassine does have some upsides over the aquaborn!

Its transperent, which I'm really liking... feel a lot less 'enclosed'
the floor is comfier for sitting on than the aquaborn
its a lot smaller so takes less space, but still roomy enough inside!

The downsides of the la bassine compared to the aquaborn..

Its a lot shallower, which is good for water comsumption, but not so good for having tummy/back covered in more upright/kneeling positions.
The sides are half the width, so not as much space to lean on etc.
Becasue of the way the floor air chambers are designed, when kneeling in the la bassine you can feel the floor on your knees, whereas you couldn't in the aquaborn.
No lid, so harder to keep the temp up until you're ready to get in.
Theres only 2 handles, whereas the aquaborn has the inner handles aswell as 2 more on the top of the sides so you could hold on if you were squating against the side, and 2 handles on the outside, which seem a bit pointless lol.

So yeah.. both have their pros and cons. Personally I'd say the aquaborn was a LOT better IF I hadn't been through 2 that split upon filling!

 

[luna28]

Thanks everyone, what a shame about the aquaborn faults, I would be reluctant to get one now,though I' only 25 weeks gone so the faults may be sorted out by the time I go for one,
I might try out the birth pool in a box mini as I'm only 5ft 2!
I like the fact that la bassine is transparent too esp for dp being able to see the birth, however we have laminate flooring so do not want to feel hard floor under my knees!

 

[Mervs Mum]

I was going for the aquaborn eco mini, but I've been through 2 of them in the last couple of weeks and both split dramatically during the practice setups!! I had an email from the head boss ater I sent the 2nd pool back saying that because their pool is a new design, they are now testing the whole batch but not in time for my due date! Which is a pain, coz ive since bought the la bassine pool and MUCH prefer the aquaborn!

However, the la bassine does have some upsides over the aquaborn!

Its transperent, which I'm really liking... feel a lot less 'enclosed'
the floor is comfier for sitting on than the aquaborn
its a lot smaller so takes less space, but still roomy enough inside!

The downsides of the la bassine compared to the aquaborn..

Its a lot shallower, which is good for water comsumption, but not so good for having tummy/back covered in more upright/kneeling positions.
The sides are half the width, so not as much space to lean on etc.
Becasue of the way the floor air chambers are designed, when kneeling in the la bassine you can feel the floor on your knees, whereas you couldn't in the aquaborn.
No lid, so harder to keep the temp up until you're ready to get in.
Theres only 2 handles, whereas the aquaborn has the inner handles aswell as 2 more on the top of the sides so you could hold on if you were squating against the side, and 2 handles on the outside, which seem a bit pointless lol.

So yeah.. both have their pros and cons. Personally I'd say the aquaborn was a LOT better IF I hadn't been through 2 that split upon filling!

I use the La Bassine with my own birth and clients and never found the depth to be an issue

The mini Birth Pool in a Box cover fits it for just £10 I also covered mine with a make shift cover before buying the BPIAB cover and it retained the heat from 9am to 8pm and STILL needed cooling down - definitely no problems retaining heat with the La Bassine in my experience.

 

[Ju_bubbs]

I was going for the aquaborn eco mini, but I've been through 2 of them in the last couple of weeks and both split dramatically during the practice setups!! I had an email from the head boss ater I sent the 2nd pool back saying that because their pool is a new design, they are now testing the whole batch but not in time for my due date! Which is a pain, coz ive since bought the la bassine pool and MUCH prefer the aquaborn!

However, the la bassine does have some upsides over the aquaborn!

Its transperent, which I'm really liking... feel a lot less 'enclosed'
the floor is comfier for sitting on than the aquaborn
its a lot smaller so takes less space, but still roomy enough inside!

The downsides of the la bassine compared to the aquaborn..

Its a lot shallower, which is good for water comsumption, but not so good for having tummy/back covered in more upright/kneeling positions.
The sides are half the width, so not as much space to lean on etc.
Becasue of the way the floor air chambers are designed, when kneeling in the la bassine you can feel the floor on your knees, whereas you couldn't in the aquaborn.
No lid, so harder to keep the temp up until you're ready to get in.
Theres only 2 handles, whereas the aquaborn has the inner handles aswell as 2 more on the top of the sides so you could hold on if you were squating against the side, and 2 handles on the outside, which seem a bit pointless lol.

So yeah.. both have their pros and cons. Personally I'd say the aquaborn was a LOT better IF I hadn't been through 2 that split upon filling!

I use the La Bassine with my own birth and clients and never found the depth to be an issue

The mini Birth Pool in a Box cover fits it for just £10 I also covered mine with a make shift cover before buying the BPIAB cover and it retained the heat from 9am to 8pm and STILL needed cooling down - definitely no problems retaining heat with the La Bassine in my experience.

Thanks for that!! Just what I need

As for the depth, I probably wouldn't have found it an issue if I hadn't tried out the aquaborn first, irs unbelievably deeper, and has a much higher side wall tooso theres no worries of water splashing out as you move!

 

[NaturalMomma]

I really liked my La Bassine. La Bassine and Birth Pool In A Box seem to be the popular ones here. So is AquaDoula, but that is usually a rental and pretty spendy.

 

[Bournefree]

Won my Birth Pool In A Box from E-Bay for £50. Didn't bother with a cover (didn't need it - if anything it needed to be cooled) or a liner. Seemed like an added extra, that still would need sterilising. Pump from Argos, hose from B&Q! I still have it, and will be using it for the one cooking!

 

[Jenniflower]

Won my Birth Pool In A Box from E-Bay for £50. Didn't bother with a cover (didn't need it - if anything it needed to be cooled) or a liner. Seemed like an added extra, that still would need sterilising. Pump from Argos, hose from B&Q! I still have it, and will be using it for the one cooking!

Bournefree I see you mentioned you didn't use a liner with the BPiaB. How did you sterilize it after? Did you have to scrub it with Milton? Or did you just fill it up all the way and put some in there? We're borrowing one they mentioned getting a liner and a hose, but the liner is £25!!! not to mention having to still purchase a hose, connectors, pooper scooper and thermometer. I'm trying to convince DH to not go with the liner, so any advice would be great.

 

[Mervs Mum]

Even a liner isnt truly sterile. You just clean it out with hot soapy water, rinse it, then do the same again with Milton and water. To clean the hose you fill a bucket or the sink with hot soapy water, connect the submersible pump to the hose, put it all in the water and set it going for 10 mins. Empty and do the same with Milton water.

 

[Bournefree]

Won my Birth Pool In A Box from E-Bay for £50. Didn't bother with a cover (didn't need it - if anything it needed to be cooled) or a liner. Seemed like an added extra, that still would need sterilising. Pump from Argos, hose from B&Q! I still have it, and will be using it for the one cooking!

Bournefree I see you mentioned you didn't use a liner with the BPiaB. How did you sterilize it after? Did you have to scrub it with Milton? Or did you just fill it up all the way and put some in there? We're borrowing one they mentioned getting a liner and a hose, but the liner is £25!!! not to mention having to still purchase a hose, connectors, pooper scooper and thermometer. I'm trying to convince DH to not go with the liner, so any advice would be great.

Like you I just thought, that even if I purchased a liner, it wasn't going to be sterile, so would end up having to do that on top of everything else. So didn't bother.

Plus, and I’m sure that this doesn’t happen too much, but I worried that the liner would be a slip hazard. Any moisture between the plastic of the pool and the plastic of the liner - and woosh! I’m sure you could go flying!

When we first got it we blew it up, washed it down with hot soapy and water (didn't fill it.. tooo much water!) and dried it out, then I used slightly diluted Milton on a kitchen roll and gave it a really good wipe over - got to get in all the creases! packed it all way again. Then when we were ready to get it out (in early labour) we wiped it down again filled it, didn't out any Milton or anything in the water.

After we had had our baby, the next day the pool was mostly emptied by the midwives (they set up a siphon to the bath.. so it slowly drained over night!) the rest was done with a bucket. For the very last bit, we took it out the garden and tipped it over! showered it with a hose, brought it back in, and washed it again with soapy water and milton'ed it and put it away again.

I think the liners are an added extra, that is not sterile, and would be giving you a false sense of cleanliness that really isn't there. (you can get that by cleaning it yourself) Let alone the waste of money! The money issue was why my OH didn't need convincing!

What we did over-look, was to clean out the hose we used! we just plugged it straight into the kitchen sink and used it! Think I'll have to make sure that is cleaned this time round, as it has been in the garage for over a year now!

What we didn't need was a fishing net (for any poo). We had an old fashioned mercury thermometer, but the MWs had both of these if we needed them. They didn’t like my Mercury thermometer - for obvious safety reasons, so used there own. Haha! Also they were only concerned about the water temp right before baby was born, they didn’t test it before that. You are going to be the best thermometer, believe me - and you can get pretty hot!!!

 

[Jenniflower]

This is great thanks, I'll let my DH read this to see if he gets what I was trying to say.