Using a Trough as a birthing pool **LIP**

[spanishcrunchymama]

After researching and trying to find an affordable, yet comfortable "pool", we opted for the trough.

Here is my facebook post with pics on the setting up process and the final outcome:

LINK

We plan to do a test run sometime before the birth but wanted to share the progress.

Anyone else use a trough or thinking about it??

[MammaB21]

Cool. That looks great, and pretty comfy too.

I'm planning on using a trough. My midwife has one she's borrowing me. She's bringing it over tomorrow evening at my home visit. I was planning on using some blankets and pillows to cushion it and then putting a liner of some sort over that. I see you used a couch liner. How thick is that and did it seem to hold well with the tape? My midwife has those foam noodles that she puts around the sides so you can lean over the edges in comfort. I'm excited to get it all set up.

[WindyCityMom]

That looks awesome! Looks like a great shape also! (oh, and welome to MDC!! )

The PP had a great idea (well, her midwife ) about the foam noodles around the edges.

Happy birthing!

[mcimom]

I had a trough at my homebirth. I labored in it, but ultimately ended up giving birth on the couch. I didn't even line the darn thing and I don't remember it being uncomfortable at all. I liked that it was so deep...deeper than an inflatable pool would have been...

[BirthTender]

Trough for waterbirth

I've had many clients to use a cattle watering trough. They love the deepness of it & sturdiness of the sides. I encourage them to line it w/ a light colored sheet so we can see if there is heavy blood loss, etc.
Karen of BirthTender

[etsdtm99]

my midwife mentioned that she has one of those at our last appt.. i've been considering it, seeing pictures like that helps, thanks!

[cathicog]

Yep, done several births in them. They seem to hold heat well, are easy to fit in tight places, and hold 100 gals...you also don't have to worry about the sides falling down on you! The clients we had put a couple blankets in the bottom, then a white sheet(to be able to see better inside) and then a plastic drop cloth like you would use for painting a room. one client even filled it partway, and trimmed the edges, and duct taped the plastic to the tub. It was the nicest setup I have ever seen. Worked well, too. I plan on getting one for my practice someday.

[LiLStar]

My MWs have I think 7 of those? They provide one for all their clients, delivered at the 36 week home visit. I used it for labor/transition but birthed on the floor. But I really liked the tub! I put two body pillows side by side on the bottom, then a couple pillows duct taped down on one of the sides to lean on. Then the light colored sheet, then the painter's plastic. It was really comfy. I don't know what I was expecting, and this should have been obvious (but it surprised me, oddly enough) that my poofy pillows compacted down and were extra firm like a super dense foam when the tub was filled. I liked the texture. for some reason, it didn't occur to my pregnant brain that once filled, the weight of the water would do a pretty darn good job of holding the pillows on the floor in place and they wouldn't wiggle around.

[Aliy]

that actually seems like a reall neat idea

[Banana731]

That looks pretty awesome! How much was it, if you don't mind?

[spanishcrunchymama]

price

paid $69.99 plus taxes at a local animal supply store!

[gabbyraja]

Can I ask a question? I'm 5'8". It looks plenty deep enough for me, but I'm thinking I wouldn't be able to get in a good squat with my legs far enough apart for delivery, unless I turned sideways, which I don't want to do. Can anyone verify for me if you had plenty of room or if your knees were restricted by the sides?

[ocelotmom]

Originally Posted by gabbyraja

Can I ask a question? I'm 5'8". It looks plenty deep enough for me, but I'm thinking I wouldn't be able to get in a good squat with my legs far enough apart for delivery, unless I turned sideways, which I don't want to do. Can anyone verify for me if you had plenty of room or if your knees were restricted by the sides?

We have a 100 gallon trough we're currently using as a kid pool (need something sturdy that the dogs aren't going to tear up ), and may end up using it as a birth tub. I'm 5'11", and, while I haven't specifically tried to squat, I feel like I have plenty of room. I'd go try now, except it's filled with water and it's only 54 degrees out, so I don't think that'd be very pleasant

If you have a farm supply store somewhere nearish, you can probably go try it out (dry, of course) at the store. That's what we did.

[Ellenems]

Our midwife provided us with a trough for my last homebirth as well. We loved it! Ours must have been quite a bit larger as both my husband and I were able to fit in it with plenty of room to spare. I padded the whole tub with pillows and sleeping bags, lined it with a king-sized white sheet, then covered the whole thing with thick painter's plastic. We used plenty of duct tape to seal the plastic all the way around the tub. It was way more comfortable than I was expecting, and the water stayed very warm (although my labor was quite short), and it was nice and deep. And the best part was that my midwife and her assistant cleaned everything up when it was over .

We're living in a different state now for our next birth, so I'll have to see what the midwives around here provide, but I think the trough might still be a good option. Thanks for the reminder!

ETA: I'm pretty sure we used this 150 gallon trough, as opposed to the 100 gallon.

[ocelotmom]

Originally Posted by gabbyraja

Can I ask a question? I'm 5'8". It looks plenty deep enough for me, but I'm thinking I wouldn't be able to get in a good squat with my legs far enough apart for delivery, unless I turned sideways, which I don't want to do. Can anyone verify for me if you had plenty of room or if your knees were restricted by the sides?

Ok, it warmed up, so I squatted down a bit in our tub. I really can't see width being a problem!

Ours is a Tuff Stuff trough, not Rubbermaid, so the dimensions may not be identical. http://www.tufftubs.com/htdocs/plinoval.htm has a picture and dimensions (we have the 110 gal. one). It's not quite as deep as I'd like, but deep enough.