WaterBirth - Tub Rental/Clean Up, and Other Important Facts to Know

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Permalink Reply by Jamie Bond on November 26, 2009 at 10:50am

When I had my daughter at home, we went to a local store called Canadian Tire and bought an inflatable kiddie pool - about 4 feet wide and 2 feet high for $30. There is no reason as far as I am concerned, that you should have to spend upwards of $200 to have your baby in a tub at home. How big is your bathtub? We emptied and filled the pool wth a hose with a tap attatchment. It was great. Shop around and find something that meets the midwives requirements (ie abiliity to fill/empty, enough room to help you deliver the baby if you need, enough space for you to be comfortable...) but doesn't break the bank.

Permalink Reply by Sara on November 28, 2009 at 9:24pm

Visit www.your waterbirth.com they have a birthing pool for $125 (no liner but you don't need one if you are the only one that will use it, liners are used when pool will be used over and over for several mothers, like if supplied by the MW or hosp). They also have a tool to compare different types of birthing pools. Also, you could just buy an inflatable kids pool (they sell those at that site too cuz they can be hard to find in the winter :) for $30. The site also has all other supplies you will need.

Do you have a MW? If so ask her exactly what you need in your kit and what she will supply. I know you will need a food grade hose to fill the tub and an attachment to connect the hose to a faucet, a thermometor to maintain water at the right temp, some type of pump to drain the tub and an attachment to attach the hose to the pump for draining, a net to get out chunks during labor and before draining (like the kind you use to clean a fish tank), a large plastic cover (like the kind you use to cover things before you paint) to put under the tub and protect your floor, some type of plastic cover to protect your mattress from getting wet after (my MW recommends a shower curtain liner, cheaper and larger than a matress cover so it will protect the sides of the mattress too).

Explore the site and it will give you a good idea of the things you will need. Then think of ways to improvise and it will save you money (like a painters drop cloth from home improvement store and shower liner for mattress cover) rather than buying those things from the site.

Good Luck!

Permalink Reply by Jenny Olson on December 13, 2009 at 7:14pm

I rented a tub which was brought to my house, set up and I got to keep it for a month. It had a heater and jets in it which was great and I was able to use it daily for relaxation. After the delivery, the guy came out to empty it and took it away. I felt that having it for that long and usable was well worth the investment of the rental fee. I thought about getting an inflatable, but didn't want to deal with set up, filling it with hot enough water and worrying about maintaining the temperature and then having to deal with emptying after delivery.

Permalink Reply by Jennifer Frankel on December 14, 2009 at 7:51pm

I rented a fabulous birthing tub from my midwife!! $250, we had it for a month, set up but NOT filled. It had heaters in the sides, and a disposable liner, and really deep (I am 5'10" and sat and knelt in a comfortable depth of water. I bought a drinking water safe HOT WATER safe hose at Lowe's. It is a black rubber hose, no vinyl, no lead (drinking water safe nickel hardware). BEWARE regular green garden hoses can burst from HOT water.
The MW's tub had a pump for emptying the tub. The hose for draining and pump were soaked in bleach in our big tub after we drained all. We put a big tarp under the tub (white carpet in the bedroom where I delivered) and a layer of chucks for when I got out of the tub.

Target has awesome PVA shower curtain liners. which had NO vinyl smell like Vinyl shower curtain liners (which I knew would make me feel sick/headachey during labor).

I think it kind of depends where you are delivering re: heated tub or kiddie pool. I needed and enjoyed that the tub had a heater in it. I was in the tub for about 40 minutes +/- for 7cm->transition and delivery (all went pretty quickly).