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10 Must Haves for Your Home Water Birth
I am a mother of 2, and had an at home water birth with both of my children. I LOVED giving birth in water. It was as relaxing as a birth can possibly be (it still hurts though, darn it!). If I have my way, all my babies will be born at home in water. Now I am pregnant again, and expecting to give birth in mid-September. As I plan ahead for my 3rd water birth, I thought it would be a great time to share with you MY home water birth “must-haves.”
Disclaimer: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.
1. A Birth Tub
Birth tubs that are specifically designed for birthing can range in price from $100, for a REALLY affordable one, to well over $1000. Some more expensive tub kits can come with pool liners, lids, and heaters, but you can also purchase those separately.
Many women opt to rent a tub instead of purchasing one. The price for a birth tub rental is usually around $200-$300, and may or may not come with a liner. Usually, you are not required to clean the tub afterwards, so that is a bonus. What newborn mom has time for that anyway. Just make sure you use a liner for the birth.
A cheaper option is to purchase an inflatable kids pool, instead of a tub that was made for giving birth.
Making Your Choice
An important consideration when choosing a tub is the height. The water needs to be high enough to cover your rear-end when you are of your knees, so baby’s head will stay immersed while you give birth. So make sure the tub you choose is deep enough, and holds a high enough water level.
Here is a handy website I found comparing several birth pool options, and their pros and cons. There are so many options out there. Take a little time to do some research, and figure out what will work best for you and your family.
My Tub Choice
For both of my water births, I decided to go with a simple inflatable pool. It was the cheapest option, but my favorite thing about buying a cheap pool is that you can just throw it away afterwards if you don’t feel like sanitizing it. For both of my births I went with this 3-ring pool. It was under $30 both times I purchased it.
Intex Swim Center Ocean Reef Inflatable Pool, 75″ X 70″ X 24″, for Ages 6+As I am only 5’1″, the pool I used is much wider than I needed it to be, so I am thinking about going with a smaller pool this time around. It will be a much better fit in my bedroom, and provide more room for my midwife to get where she needs, and my husband to help me through labor.
2. An Air Pump
Unless you or your partner want to spend a couple hours blowing up the tub by hand with a hand pump, you’re gonna want to get an electric air pump. There are some really cheap air pumps that do a great job. We spent less than $15 on ours before we had our daughter 3 1/2 years ago, and it still works great. This is the one we bought.
Intex Quick-Fill AC Electric Air Pump, 110-120 Volt, Max. Air Flow 21.2CFM
3. Lead-Free Hose & Adapter
It is important to make sure that the hose you use to fill up your tub is free of lead. The hose length is also important. Decide where your pool will be, and how many feet it is from the sink you will use to fill up the tub. Then add about 10 feet to that length for good measure. That way you can have several feet of hose in the pool while filling up without someone tripping over the hose. This is the hose we bought, and it comes in lengths of 25′, 50′ and 100.’ We bought the 50′ hose since we wanted to use the hose to drain the pool afterwards. It worked great!
You’ll also need an adapter to connect your hose to your sink. Some sink faucets have threads on the outside, and some on the inside, as well as different diameters of threads, so make sure you get the right adapter. You don’t want to find out that the one you got doesn’t work, and have to make a trip to the hardware store while you are in labor. This is the one we got. It has multiple thread diameters, and it worked great for us.
DANCO Multi-Thread Garden Hose Adapter for Male to Male and Female to Male, Chrome, 1-Pack (10513)
4. Thermometer
For a water birth, the water temperature should be kept between 98-101 degrees Fahrenheit. Skin is not a good judge of temperature, so you’ll need to get a thermometer. A floating pool thermometer works great because you won’t loose it at the bottom of the pool. I oo’ed and aw’ed over the cute floating thermometer duckies and boats, but I ended up going with this super cheap plain one.
Intex 29039 Floating Pool Thermometer, 1-Pack, White
Tip: Do not boil your thermometer to sanitize it. I learned that the hard way after asking my sister to boil it for me. She did. She bought me a new one. She shouldn’t have, since I am the one who told her to boil it anyway, but she’s just sweet like that. I’m glad I went with the cheap one. Anyway, do not boil your thermometer.
5. Tarp & Shower Curtains
To protect the floor under your birth tub, you’ll want a large tarp. The one we got for my last birth was 15′. I think we are going to go with one that is 20′ or larger this time. The tarp only covered the floor a little more than 1 1/2 feet around the birth pool, and when my water broke right before I got into the pool, it got onto the carpet. We purchased our tarp at Walmart, it was just a plain old blue (or was it green?) tarp.
It is good to have some cheap shower curtains handy in case you need to get out of the tub, or quickly transfer to the bed, you can throw a cheap curtain on the floor and not worry about getting anything wet. They sell them at the dollar store, and Walmart also sells some pretty cheap. I used a few moving to the bed after giving birth. Very handy to have!
6. A Fish Tank Net
Giving birth comes with a lot of mucus and other fun stuff like…poop. When you give birth in water, this ends up floating around and getting everywhere. Have a fish tank net handy so you, or your partner, can scoop it out. It’s not fun to have that stuff hang out in the water with you. The birth kit I bought for my second birth came with one, but I didn’t buy a birth kit with my first. I really wished I’d bought a net. Make sure you get one if one does not come in your kit.
Pawfly 8 Inch Aquarium Fish Net Fine Mesh Fish Catch Nets with 10.5 inch Plastic Handle – Green
7. Lots of Towels
My midwife’s supply list requested I have 6 large towels bleached, dried, and set aside for the birth. I’d rather be over-prepared than under-prepared, so I prepared 8-10 towels. I didn’t want to ruin any of my good towels, so I bought a bunch really cheap at Goodwill.
8. Home Birth Kit
My midwife has a special home birth kit she requests her clients to purchase from Radiant Belly. She chose all the items she wanted to be included in the birth kit. Many other midwives do the same thing, so likely your birth kit will not be the same as mine. I also purchase a bunch of other things that are not included in the birth kit. I will make a separate post on all the things included in my birth kit, as well as the other things I like to purchase for my birth.
9. Birth Tub Lid/Cover
Many birth pools come with lids to help keep in the heat when you are filling it up, or when you get out for a while. Since I had a cheap pool, mine did not come with lid. Instead, we bought this 5-pack of Mylar Thermal blankets. Just wet the edge of the pool with your hand, and the blankets will stick to the top and seal in the heat. It does take 2 blankets to cover a big pool, but it works and it’s CHEAP!
Mylar Science Purchase Emergency Thermal Blankets (5 Pack)
10. A Big Fluffy Robe
There is nothing quite like getting out of the birth tub, hard earned newborn baby in your arms, and slipping into a big fluffy robe. It’s even better if someone can throw it in the drier for you just before you get out of the tub. The BEST feeling!
I hope you enjoyed my post, and that you found it helpful. Leave me a comment of your home water birth must haves! Maybe you’ll share something I want to add to my “must have” list.
