waterbirth warning!

[Altair]

I just wanted to let everyone know who is planning a waterbirth about our situation so you can avoid it happening to yourself!

I had a long labor at home, 60 hours, using my birth pool (La Bassine) for a lot of it, and then we decided to transfer. When we made the call to transfer we needed to go fast-- and we didn't even think to pump out and deflate the pool. That would have taken at least an hour.

We got a call 12 hours after our baby's birth that our neighbor downstair's ceiling was ruined and water was dripping all over. My partner had to rush home to meet my (IRATE) landlord and the damages are estimated to be in the 10s of thousands.

So... if you're using an inflatable tub, have a back up plan in case of transfer. If we had been thinking ahead of time, we could have had a friend on call with a set of our housekeys to come over and deflate it. Honestly though, I can't see myself ever using an inflatable tub again. It was a brand new tub and this should NOT have happened. The last thing a woman recovering in the hospital from a c-section needs is to be told she owes thousands and thousands of dollars because of her birth pool.

[jeliphish]

Oh my how terrible!!! Looks like you should only be responsible for his deductible. Is there homeowners insurance on the property? If there isn't - you make sure you are on top of who he will use for repairs...so that you are not overcharged.

[CrunchyMamaToBe]

Oh no! I am so sorry, mama. What a mess.

[Altair]

Originally Posted by jeliphish

Oh my how terrible!!! Looks like you should only be responsible for his deductible. Is there homeowners insurance on the property? If there isn't - you make sure you are on top of who he will use for repairs...so that you are not overcharged.

It may turn out that we only owe the deductible, we have to see what the insurance company says, but this is a condo building and our landlord only owns our apartment and I can't see there being any way they'd let us stay here after this year. We just moved in in Oct and wanted to stay here for 2-3 years, it's the most perfect apartment in the best neighborhood and is below market rate for all the amenities. There is NO WAY I could find another apt with a W/D in this price range, which would mean I couldn't CD. We have also spent a lot of money customizing the apartment and to have to undo it after 1 year would be really disappointing. I'm sad my days here a numbered now. We literally looked at rentals for 6 months before choosing this one.

[truejoy]

If the pool was new it doesn't sound right that it would break......can the company you bought it from help pay for the costs?

[jeliphish]

I would just nicely write a letter to the landlord and the condo owners about the situation and explain the emergency and why you had to leave. A nice heartfelt letter can sometimes envoke a lot of empathy .

[TzippityDoulah]

I would certainly contact the pool company. I don't know what good it will do... but a good company woudl have *something* helpful to add. they have a good rep for their pools... so I would hope they would have something to offer if you seem levelheaded enough.

also I agree with jeliphish on her above post about writing the landlord.

[TzippityDoulah]

p.s. I'm so sorry this happened! my heart goes out to you. really, how incredibly stressful!

I hope there is way you can still enjoy your babymooning...

[Ceili]

Oh, I'm sorry that happened. It's gotta be stressful at time when you just don't need any extra stress.

Did the pool leak or did the ceiling cave in from weight? I know in certain apartments that I've lived in we were allowed to have waterbeds because of the extra weight. Water is really heavy.

[Limabean1975]

Oh my GAHHHH!!! I'm planning a waterbirth with my *second-hand* La Bassine - you've got me worried!!! Please do, if you have a chance, give us more details - what broke, the tub or the floor? ACK!

P.S. You might consider changing your thread title - I almost did not click because I didn't want to read a scary birth story so close to my time, but it's not a birth story - so maybe "Birth tub leaked - warning!" or something like that.

P.P.S. I'm so sorry this happened to you; thank you for taking the time to tell us.

[amandaleigh37]

Oh no!! How terrible. I'm curious though, as to what caused the leaking? Was the pool defective in some way? I'd definitely contact the manufacturer, if it was brand new I would think they would have some responsibility here Either way it really sucks for you, I'm sorry.

[Contrariety]

GAH! I'm so glad to be living on the bottom floor on a cement slab. No worries for me, thankfully!

[annekh23]

What actually happened, did a section burst and thus the water overflow, or did the floor give.

If a section burst and you weren't misusing it in anyway, then I'd definitely contact La Bassine, the damage may well have been worse because you weren't there to immediatly start emptying water, but it could still have caused plenty of damage.

[Altair]

more details--

it was a new tub, first time used, and we never identified where the leak sprung. the whole tub didn't empty, about the top 3rd emptied, which was more than enough to cause massive amounts of damage. the floor did not collaspe, the water rolled on our floor to the edge then went into the wall and her ceiling. i looked on la bassine's website and it sounds like in their FAQ they admit leaks are possible with normal use!!!

i did send the landlord a letter and our birth announcement and it softened her some, but this is still our responsibility.

aqua doula's are looking better and better!

[rhiandmoi]

This is something that anyone who rents or owns a condo and plans to use a birthing pool should look into. A lot of leases specifically list out that you can't have water filled furniture, and that if you do you will be 100% responsible for any damages. We have a condo and our insurance also requires us to disclose if we have water filled furniture if we want any damage caused by leaks to be covered.

But on the bright side, we had a water leak inside our wall a couple of years ago that leaked down into our downstairs neighbor and all told it was only around $6000 in damage including drying out, emergency plumber and lots of drywall and carpet repairs, which we only had to pay our deductible. So it was a lot, but not 10s of thousands.

[joyfulgrrrl]

- that's great advice, I just wish you didn't have to learn from experience. Hopefully your insurance will cover it, I wish you a speedy recovery mama.

[DallasCPM]

As a midwife, I've had an inflatable tub spring a leak on a client in labor before. It was a borrowed tub, so it had been used before... not sure how many times. It was a La Bassine, and the inner plastic wall sprung a tiny pea-sized leak, and water was forcefully spraying into the "air pockets" between the inner and outer walls. And from there, you could see the pressure building and then the hole quickly enlarged and the inner seam started to go.

The dad and my assistant were moving computer/electronic equipment and draining the tub as fast as we could, while mama was pushing.

I'm so sorry you've having to deal with damages and charges.

[Limabean1975]

Yiiiikes, now I am getting concerned about my La Bassine (second hand, used once - maybe twice since i assume the previous owner did a trial run - which I will too, so it will be on it's 4th fill by birth...).

[liliaceae]

I'm so sorry this happened to you.

[*MamaJen*]

Originally Posted by jeliphish

I would just nicely write a letter to the landlord and the condo owners about the situation and explain the emergency and why you had to leave. A nice heartfelt letter can sometimes envoke a lot of empathy .

Yeah, there are few things more sympathetic than a woman in labor.
That's just such total crap though. I remember that thread from a few weeks ago where all the homebirthing MDC engineer mamas got together and calculated the load bearing ability of their floor with a birth tub on top. They didn't even mention the possibility of the pool springing a leak.
I, for one, would write a strongly worded letter to La Bassine. And I really hope as much as possible is covered by insurance.
Still, that's just the last thing you want to deal with when you have a brand new baby and you're recovering from delivery.