Random waterbirth prep question - hose adapter & filters

[bjorker]

We are setting up our outdoor hot tub to (potentially) use as a birth tub (I'm not sure I'm really going to birth in it or not, but I want the option!). The plan is to empty it out ahead of time and scrub it out, then refill without the hot tub chemicals prior to labor.

I already purchased a "drinking water safe" hose, but now I'm wondering about the adapter. I know most of you get it because you are filling up an indoor tub and need to connect your hose to a faucet, but I'll be outside with a standard hose hookup nearby. Would it be better to run the hose through the window and connect it via an adapter to my kitchen sink? I'm thinking about the pipe differences, I guess. Does it matter? I guess there could be a greater chance for hidden gunk in the outdoor one?

Also, did anyone bother getting a filter?

Thanks!

[DirtRoadMama]

I'm interested to know what others think, too.

I think that, if you just run the water for a minute before running it to the tub, that is going to rinse out the faucet as much as one could hope for. There is a flange thingie inside the faucet that stops the water from coming out when it is closed, and that is going to keep things from going up unside it, too. Additionally, that flange thingie is a lot closer to where the water comes out on an outside faucet than it is on a kitchen faucet, so theoretically, I would think that there would be less surface area for any creepy stuff on the outside faucet.

If all the pipes were installed at the same time, they are probably all made of the same material.

I was thinking of running it from the kitchen, though, so the tub wouldn't take so long to heat the water all the way (I could run hot water, rather than cold from the outside tap).

[bjorker]

Thanks for responding! That makes sense.

I'm pretty sure the hose I bought says to use cold water only, so I wouldn't have the same benefit of running it from the sink. Hmm...
It probably wouldn't matter anyway, even if I did, since the hot water would never hold up long enough to fill up an entire hot tub (and the thing can heat itself anyway, I'm just thinking if I ended up needing to fill it in a hurry!).

I'll try and remember to ask my midwives if they've had much experience with outdoor hot tubs. Most of their births are at their birth center though, so it probably doesn't come up very often!