Filling a birth pool

[Tacey]

I've got the standard sized pool in a box that my friend passed on to me, but now I'm starting to worry a bit about how I'll fill it and keep it hot. We have a hot water tank rather than a combi boiler, so I'm wondering how many tanks worth of hot water it will take to fill it. Has anyone else managed in that situation? Is it worth getting some sort of water heater to put in the pool?

 

[Mervs Mum]

Once filled they stay really warm especially if covered with a pool cover or tarpaulin. I've had to cool them down before a woman gets in and it's been filled for hours!! The water tank may take a while. Mines the same so for my own home birth we filled it after my waters went about 9am and it took a couple of hours. I still needed to out cold in there at 8pm! Just factor extra filling time in

 

[Tacey]

Once filled they stay really warm especially if covered with a pool cover or tarpaulin. I've had to cool them down before a woman gets in and it's been filled for hours!! The water tank may take a while. Mines the same so for my own home birth we filled it after my waters went about 9am and it took a couple of hours. I still needed to out cold in there at 8pm! Just factor extra filling time in

Brilliant, thank you! That sets my mind at rest. My doula says she's got a cover, so that will help (as long as I don't have a speedy labour!)

Out of interest, how many times did you empty the tank to fill the pool?

Times like these, I wish we weren't on a water meter!

 

[Mervs Mum]

We were too!! I think we did 2 tanks and hubby boiled a few large pans and kettles too just to keep filling it while it related. The cover will do the trick one thing I always say to people conscious of the water usage is if possible set a water butt up near to the house and you can collect the dirty water for the garden

 

[Mervs Mum]

I've only had one person not get the pool filled but she did go from waters going with no ctx to established labour and pushing in under 2 hours! We got about 6 inches in the pool! try not to worry too much. Yur doula will know when to fill it to make sure you have it in time x

 

[Tacey]

Lovely, thank you! May can't come soon enough!

 

[Ju_bubbs]

Is it the regular pool in a box, the bigger one with a seat and a cup holder? I have that one, and the leaflet with it says it takes about 4 bath fulls of water.. don't suppose you know how many baths you can run before your water runs out!?

 

[Tacey]

It's the regular one I think, so I guess that'll be less than 4 baths full! I have no idea how many baths we can run, but that gives me a good mental image of what we'll be using - thank you!

 

[Blah11]

you're on your 2nd baby, you might not be in it for long! I only managed 20 minutes in mine before I had to get out to push (my choice i didnt like the water much anyway). When you are in labour and if you want to use the water for pain relief don't put it off. I did because I was scared I was only 4cm or something and that it would stall contractions so I waited until the MW checked me. By then I was 8cm and I think I left it too late and being in transition made me really uncomfortable and out of sync with things in the water.