heat for a blow-up pool?

[DoulaSarah]

Hi all! I'm new to blow-up birth pools. I had my first two in the hospital and they had industrial water heaters for the tubs. So, my question is...do you rent some kind of heater for a blow-up pool or do you have to keep emptying and refilling? Thanks

[camprunner]

I think when my last child was born, someone did mention something that they could put in the pool to keep the water heated. We figured we would deal with that need when we got there. We already had the pool inflated and even so by the time dh got around to filling it up, I got to sit in it for 45 minutes before she was born. I did sit in our bath tub while I waited for him to get the pool filled.

[horsecrazy100]

My midwife said that generally women in labour want the water barely lukewarm anyway, so a heater isn't normally needed. Although sometimes they do drain some and add some boiling/hot water.

[DoulaSarah]

oof, really? I wanted the water HOT for my first two! Hot tub, hot shower, hot pads, my back labor was excruciating!!! lol

Originally Posted by horsecrazy100

My midwife said that generally women in labour want the water barely lukewarm anyway, so a heater isn't normally needed. Although sometimes they do drain some and add some boiling/hot water.

[Belle]

The blow up pools keep the temperature better than the tubs with the thinner sides because they are well insulated on the side and have less surface area. If the water starts feeling cooler to you all you need to do is to remove a pot or two of water and add a couple pots of hot water to it. We did this and it worked quite well. We had La Bassine.

[emnic77]

La Bassine here too. DH filled halfway with cold water in very early labor, by the time I wanted to get in it was room temp, and he added hot water (cranked up water heater) and it was perfect. He did have to bail out some of the room temp water, he had filled it too much, but once it was hot it stayed hot. My midwife brought her cover to keep it warm when I got out, and that worked fine, no refilling needed.
I was in/out of it for only 4 hour though before dd was born.

[TabithaB]

I have heard from others that they put a tarp over it and a blanket/quilt to keep it warm till needed or while you are out of it. That is my plan anyways. This is my first experience with this, so I will see how it works out.

[Sharlla]

i had my baby in jan. we just added a few gallons of hot water when it cooled off a little. no heater needed
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[thebeljur]

We didn't use any type of heater for my home water births. Although, I'm never in the tub long enough to need it reheated (my labors are fast). We always just planned to add hot water if it cooled down too much.

[mariagiacalone]

We hooked a hose to the hot water heater and filled it up that way. It was initially very warm, so it kept its heat for 3 hours. Toward the end, we added a few stockpots of boiling water and that did the trick for the last hour.

[Nina Rinkes]

Hi, as a homebirth midwife I attend waterbirths and what I mostly recommend is this:

In early labour fill the pool halfways with quite hot water and put a cover on it. If you need the pool soon thereafter, simply fill up with cool water to achieve desired temperature. If you only need the pool much later on when the water has cooled down, fill up the pool with hot water to achieve desired temperature. Blow-up pools generally keep the temperature very well, especially when covered.

If water gets too cold while you are in it, just remove a few buckets of the water and add hot one. This works really well, no need to get a heater.

I've mostly worked with the blow-up pools from The Gentle Birth Company called Pool in a Box and they are really good. They also sell a blow-up cover for them.

A word on water temperature for births: It should always be what is most comfortable for the birthing mom. Some like it cool, some like it hot - it's all fine!

[ma_Donna]

We tried hooking up to the hot water heater, but it short-circuted cold. We added a split valve to the washer hook-up and that worked great. We ran the hose out the basement window and up to the deck for one pool... and in through the window for a smaller inside pool. I was stylin'!!!

So we had a hot hose and a cold hose with a 1/4 turn on/off valve from the hardware store on the ends. We also had a siphon so that we could remove some water easily.

I didn't end up birthing in the little pool inside, but it really helped keep the room warm.

That was July... this babe is due in winter... in Alaska so we'll probably be routing the hoses through the house! Or maybe I should birth downstairs instead... good thing I've got a couple of trimesters to think about it!

[eli's mama]

my first 2 we rented a tub that had a heater, it was awesome! the 3rd one that tub wasn't available so we bought a la bassine and we were going to buy an aquarium heater for it but i was due in july and we decided to wait, when i went into labor we had the tub filling from a hose connected to our kitchen sink and i had DH crank it all the way hot and sat in the tub with the hot on my belly, it felt sooooo good.

[nashvillemidwife]

Keeping the water warm is really not the big deal people seem to make of it. Just keep a pot of water on the stove. Really.

[DoulaSarah]

thanks

Thanks for the responses...notes taken

1. Turn water heater up to almost scalding (but warn others)
2. keep a pot on a low simmer the whole time just in case the pool needs to be warmed and the water heater isn't hot

[Namaste16]

We just had our waterbirth with our son four days ago. My husband picked up a backup heater for an aquarium for $24 from Walmart. Works up to 60+ gallons. It is electric (though they make battery operated) and we just kept it in the tub. I had a VERY long labor (48 hours total) and was in the tub multiple times over the course of the labor. We had to add a little warm water once because so much time had passed, but overall it worked fantastic. Our midwife is even thinking about suggesting it for other clients.

[jljeppson]

In most cases I don't need to worry about it with my clients, but I have a trough heater on hand just in case. You can usually get one at a local feed store during the winter months (if you live in a state where it gets cold enough to freeze) or you can buy one online. They can heat massive amounts of water, don't use a bunch of electricity, and are designed to be safe for use if an animal is touching/bathing/drinking, etc water from the bucket or trough it is in.

[Theoretica]

Originally Posted by Namaste16

We just had our waterbirth with our son four days ago. My husband picked up a backup heater for an aquarium for $24 from Walmart. Works up to 60+ gallons. It is electric (though they make battery operated) and we just kept it in the tub. I had a VERY long labor (48 hours total) and was in the tub multiple times over the course of the labor. We had to add a little warm water once because so much time had passed, but overall it worked fantastic. Our midwife is even thinking about suggesting it for other clients.

This is a great idea! What is yours called and where did you find it? Like a pet store or Target or...?