Birth tubs

[Fuzzi Fannies Creations]

OK.. I know I have asked this a million times.. but right now I am REALLY interested in ONLY hearing about mamas who used the cheapie kiddy pool (29 dollars) or so online.. DID you like it? Was it big enough? Did the water cover your belly? WERE YOU COLD??? Was it hard to fill/etc? I just need details.. my doula thinks I need a bigger fancy one that will hold 3-4 people with a heater etc.. I just dont'.. I dont have 300 dollars !! So.. I really need honest experiances iwth it.. good and bad! PLEASE!!!

[Ooey]

Okay I know you didn't want to hear from me because I rented the professional kind (only $150 though) but I think a kiddie pool would have been fine. I spent most of my labour in the tub but when I started pushing I could not get any leveredge in that big deep pool because I was kind of floating. I had to get out an be in a sitting position to push, but I think had the water level been lower (like in a kiddie pool) I would have been able to push more effectivly in the pool. The only thing I would worry about is the water temperature. But you could always have someone dumping bowls of hot water in the kiddie pool to keep it hot.

[L J]

If you are a member at MDC, search "fishy pool" in the UC forum. I know there are at least two really great threads on it over there.

I know one point that was made consistently in the fishy pool's favor was the infatable sides were easier on your underarms if you wanted to lean over the sides, versus horse troughs or actual "birthing pools" with hard plastic sides that you have to pad yourself. That, and the price of course, is what eventually sold me on it.

Mine is scheduled to arrive tomorrow, so I will definately let you know how I like it if this baby every arrives!

[greenkmt]

It would seem like you could just have someone add more hot water and make sure that the room was warm to begin with if you are cold. I was hot when I was in labor so...

[serena22304]

I loved mine. it was the perfect size. took only about 15-20 mins to fill up.
the water did cover my belly. i was not cold at all. during labor i was really hot, so the pool felt great.
the ONLY "problem" i had was that my butt was slipping on the bottom, so we just put a towel in there and i sat on the towel. no problems after that.

[Ooey]

Originally Posted by L J If you are a member at MDC, search "fishy pool" in the UC forum. I know there are at least two really great threads on it over there. I know one point that was made consistently in the fishy pool's favor was the infatable sides were easier on your underarms if you wanted to lean over the sides, versus horse troughs or actual "birthing pools" with hard plastic sides that you have to pad yourself. That, and the price of course, is what eventually sold me on it. Mine is scheduled to arrive tomorrow, so I will definately let you know how I like it if this baby every arrives!

Are you having a homebirth LJ?

[L J]

Originally Posted by Ooey Are you having a homebirth LJ?

Yep. An unassisted one.

[bobandjess99]

We used the cheap fishy pool..i think i got it at toys r us..just a little kiddy one...size-wise, it was fine, and comfortable enough...it didn't work for me, because the only position that gave me the tiniest fraction of relief was to stand up during contractions...which i obviously couldn't do in the pool! LOL!! (well, okay, i could have, but i only would've been up to my shins in water, LOL!) I hd many towels and when i would get out i would use one to dry off....we did have a problem filling it, because my wonderful dh failed to check beforehand (we assumed we would just hook it up to the hot water spigot for the washing machine) and when he went to hook it up....he couldn't, the hose that was on there was TOTALLY stuck...completely rusted on (we'd just moved into our house weeks before my labor, so it wasn't old or anything, LOL!!)...so we had to hook it directly to the hot water heater instead.....which was so not enough, and once the hot water was gone, the cold, unheated water would come through..so the overall temp was a lot lowere than i would have preferred.....all-in-all, the tub didn't really fdo anything for me. Next time, I think I'll still have one available, but I'm not going to be depending on it like i was the first time....

Anyway...to answer your question, both from my personal experience and the experiences i have read from 6+ years on UC boards, groups, etc, the cheap pools are just as good as the nicer ones....I've only heard a few people ever say they didn't like the little fishy pools....
Here is a link..you can compare the pricey Bassine one to the aquarium one.....IMO, the $25 aquarium one is certainly sufficient, although i have heard good reviews about the Bassine....and it's only $100...

[Mommy2JJ]

Did all you who used one do homebirths??

I really want to use one in my labor for my next and maybe the actual birth. Only thing is no homebirths in my state with a midwife it has to be unassisted and well I just couldn't do that nor could my dh .....we don't have birth centers either .

[Mom2MyBugs]

Has anyone just used their regular bathtub? I have a *LARGE* tub in my master bath. When I fill it up and sit in it, the water comes up to my breasts.

Jen