Do you have to have money to have a water birth at home?

[minibeast]

Hello ladies,

I went to the library the other week and took out 'the Water Birth Book' by Janet Balaskas, before reading it I hadn't given water birth much thought, as for some reason I thought it was too dangerous - I thought there was too much chance of the baby breathing automatically when they're born, and needing air, not water.
Now I feel more informed, I love the idea of having water at hand and see it as so natural for a baby to be brought into the world this way. I also would really like to give birth at home.

The thing which puts a downer on it, is that I feel like to have a water birth you have to be well off to get the right pool for the job. Also I've been told there's a shortage of midwives here in Dorset and other women who have chosen to give birth at home have been told no because of this.

I feel like for some, giving birth can be a really positive, calm empowering thing, but that i've got little control over how the birth of my baby goes. Am I wrong to think this way?

 

[Mervs Mum]

You have absolute control! There arent that many birth pools on the market but a new one with all the kit will cost you about £100. You could get a second hand one, hire or borrow one. You definitely dont need money for a home birth - you probably need less with no petrol and parking to pay the hospital!!

 

[summer rain]

Yes exactly; you need very little equipment and bits and pieces at home; you can even risk not packing a hospital bag (I got away last time) and most of the equipment is provided. So you save loads of money in those ways. I have had a home birth; but never a waterbirth; while it is possible to fill the pool in advance and keep the water warm; my labours start off so quickly and suddenly I don't think I'd ever be able to get the timing right. You could always ask about the possibility of having a home birth; there is a massive shortage of mws in London too but very few women are actually denied due to staff shortages. In many areas the community mws who deal with home births are seperate from the hospital ones anyway.

 

[kiwimama]

Well it is definately more expensive to have a homebirth over here, although it depends on what you want really. I am doing hypnobirthing classes, hiring a tens machine and a birth pool to help me through my homebirth, so that's what I need to pay for.
If you want a water birth at home all you need to do is get a birth pool. There are many ways you can find one - new ones, second hand ones, hiring one, borrowing one. It doesn't need to be expensive.

 

[Jenniflower]

I thought at first we couldn't have a home birth either because we really need to save up money the cost of the pool, etc... would cost us a bit of money. In the end though we realized that taking a taxi to the hospital was £20 one way. So that's a total of £40 to just get there and back. Not to mention DH having to take the long route of a bus home any night that I'm still there and he's not. On top of it all what if I go in and they send me home?!!?! £80!! So we found a place to actually rent the pool for only £80 and it comes with everything.

Now I don't know about your situation but once you start thinking about petrol, parking fees, hospital bag and what you have to put in them the £20 for £40 more you have to spend for getting the birth that you want is totally worth it.

Now as for ever being told that you can't have a home birth because they don't have enough midwives you politely tell them that they CAN NOT refuse you a home birth on this basis. That you have given them ample time to find the man power to assist you in your home birth. Go to this site https://www.aims.org.uk/ then clock on Articles > Home birth bullying. Reading these articles will give you a sense of confidence that you DO have the RIGHT to a home birth no matter what the midwives say.

 

[KandyKinz]

It really depends on where you are and what's available to you.

Are midwives paid for by your medical system or do you have to pay them out of pocket to have a homebirth.... Then it terms of birth pools, some midwives provide women with birth pools free of charge. Others rent them out at a nominal fee. Other women buy there's which can be be costly. I have seen other women just use a kiddie pool and other women just use their bathtubs.

 

[summer rain]

She's in the UK so midwives are paid by the NHS.

 

[PeanutBean]

Yes it depends where you are. Our MW service have a bunch of pools and I got one no problem at all last time (though I didn't get to use it). I'm booked for one again this time. I was told last time they are so popular that they would just order another pool if they were short when the time comes but it was delivered at about 8 months so there were no worries about it. All we had to pay for was a liner which is about £25. You should ask your MW what service they offer.

 

[Rmar]

We certainly aren't well off and are struggling making the payments for our home birth but we both know that having choice during birth isn't just for people with money. EVERY woman deserves the right to choose.

If you refuse to go into the hospital, isn't it their duty to send someone. I have heard from people around this forum that it can be just one of those things they say to get you into the hospital to make it easier on them rather then for you. Request a home birth and stick to your guns and you'll find out whether there really is a shortage.

Looking at how far you are along search on the web for anyone around you that would hire or loan you a birth pool as soon as you can. I am just going to hire a pool because there is no way I would be able to afford to buy one. Do you have any groups where you can put in requests for things. Here I would just go onto freecycle. You could even post something in the trading section on here.

If all else fails, you could just hop in the tub. Might not be so comfy for longer periods of time and you don't have some of the positions you would in a larger birth pool but it is relaxing water.

 

[PeanutBean]

I agree about just getting in the bath, we've not had birth pools forever after all. You could buy some of those bath pillows with suckers on to line the bath where you might kneel or rest your arms.

 

[Jenniflower]

Baths aren't really the best though because to get the full effect you really need to be able to immerse your tummy into the water and most modern day tubs hardly get half of it in hahaha.

 

[KandyKinz]

Baths aren't really the best though because to get the full effect you really need to be able to immerse your tummy into the water and most modern day tubs hardly get half of it in hahaha.

But if given the choice between a regular depth bath vs no bath at all..... I'd choose the regular depth bath.... And if you're stuck with just a bath it can be very comforting to have someone gently poor water over your belly with each contraction..... No clue why but with many women once you start they freak out on your ass if you stop

Unlike the Uk, here hospital don't allow waterbirths so deep birth pools are not readily available to women who opt for hospital births. I was at one hospital for a 3 month placement which had one rather deep jacuzzi tub (in a maternity ward with capacity for 30 mothers) but with every birth I attended there with the exception of one the tub was closed for repairs.... and then the one time in which it was deemed usable someone else had gotten to it before our client . Then I was at another hospital where they only had showers available in every room and then another hospital where there was only one communal shower for the entire floor and then another hospital where every room was equipped with a regular size tub.... and quite frankly out of all those hospitals I found women benefited most from just having access to a regular tub (though I do admit something deeper would have been preferable).

Then in terms of homebirths, I've been at midwifery practices which loan at birth pools for little or nothing and then midwifery practices with no birth pools for rental thus requiring women to buy their own pools if that's what they wanted.... As that area was not a very wealthy area most women ended up just using their regular baths. Again it was better then nothing.

 

[Jenniflower]

Totally true about it being better than nothing and I would opt for that over a hospital birth. For me personally though whenever I tend to get in the bath I feel a lot of weight around my tummy. It's ok for now because I'm just using it to relax my SPD. But I couldn't imagine having my tummy stick all the way out of the tub like it does, trying not to slip down the bath (My bum always slips! hahaha) and having surges come at me. So if I had the choice I would go with the deeper the better. Many places say it needs to be up to your armpits for it to have the proper effect.

Sadly most hospitals here don't have many birthpools either. Actually it was the fear of getting to the hospital only to be told that the 2 birth pools were both in use (and this hospital is supposed to be all top notch, state of the art new, new fangled maternity ward) that made me consider just doing it at home hahaha.