AquaDoula or Birth in a Box?

[j4ino]

My midwife has both of these waterbirth tubs and I can choose one for my homebirth. Any suggestions/opinions?

Does BPIAB keep the water warm? I'm afraid of being cold. I'm also afraid that my water tank won't have enough hot water. We have a new, pretty standard water tank. But I normally set the max temp to something low in order to prevent burns for my two-year-old. Maybe I should crank it up before I go into labor so that it will provide more hot water. right?

[Defenestrator]

I would choose the BPIAB. Much more comfortable.

[Astraia]

BPIAB. Soft and comfy to lean on, but still supportive. Also light, easy to set up, and very portable until you fill it with water! (as in, we kept ours partially inflated in the basement and then brought it up and finished inflating it when labour got rolling).

[Jaimee]

I used the BIAB mini and it was very easy to set up and take down and comfortable. Our hot water heater did run out of hot water and the water did cool down quite quickly. I started to shiver violently and had to get out. If the water had remained warm, I would have love it, but I only got about 15 minutes use out of it. Granted, it was 19 degrees outside and our heater was working overtime to heat our house! Oh, and you can purchase generic pool liners to use with the mini- $15 and worked great.

[j4ino]

I don't like cold water. Does anyone else have any opinions of the water temp in BPIAB or aquadoula?

[Defenestrator]

I love the BPIAB and use it about 20 times a year in my practice.

Here's what we do to fill it up -- crank the water heater to its highest setting right as labor begins. Then put a small amount of cold water on the floor of the pool (to prevent damage from heat to the pool floor). Then fill up the pool with pure hot water until the hot water runs out. Cover until the mom wants to get in. Then lower the temp, if necessary, by adding more cold water. Most of the time by the time the mom wants to get in, the hot water has recovered and you can periodically add more hot water. If the hot water tank has not recovered, then you boil pots on the stove for a while.

Good luck!