waterbirth/sanitary tubs

[Mama2Lennon]

I was reading a waterbirthing book, which basically assumed that a birth would be attended by a midwife, either in hospital or at home. The topic of sanitizing the birthing tub came up often. I would not like to use bleach on my birthing tub. Does this apply if I am the only one who will use the tub? Or should you always sanitize before birthing? What can I use besides bleach if I should clean it out?

[plantmommy]

I suppose if you're the only one who will use it, it's whatever your comfort level is.

Personally I have no problem with rinsing the thing in 10% bleach and then clean water to remove any bleach residue. There's probably more chlorine in your tap water than would be in the tub after that.

[indigolilybear]

we never did this to ours. any of the three times we've used tubs....we were the only ones using it. HTH

If I wanted to clean it, I probably would've just used some mild detergent like dish soap and lots of warm water.

[mama2annabelle]

I didn't use bleach. I make my own cleansers and DH cleaned the tub with those before I got in. I just use baking soda for scouring and then spray down with a disinfectant spray and let sit for a while and then rinse. For the disinfectant spray I fill a spray bottle 3/4 full of water, add 30-40 drops of grapefuit seed extract (powerful antimicrobial), 10-15 drops of tea tree oil, and fill to top with white distilled vinegar. This is my normal everyday cleanser, so I didn't do anything different than usual.

[Mama2Lennon]

Thank You's

Thank you plantmommy for the reminder that tap water has lots of chlorine in it! I will "off-gas" the water first and then probably just boil the rest. It would be hard to fill a tub with spring water (unless you were lucky enough to have spring water fed to your house!) Off topic - I hope to have an unassisted waterbirth too, congratulations!
Thank you mama2annabelle for the "recipe", that should work really well!

[momto l&a]

From my own experience my mw told dh to bleach our tub and he barely had time to do that for our first tho I ended up giving birth in bed( my choice). Next birth dh couldnt get the tub cleaned for the birth and dd was born in the tub.

Soap scum and hair floating in a tub really gross me out even if they are our own.

IMO if you have fast births have eveything cleaned and ready before hand.

[SaraC]

I think you could just use mild soap and water. The germs in it are yours so I wouldn't be too worried unless you were using something like a huge rubbermaid thing that was dirty or something. Good luck.

[blessed2bamommie]

interesting....I am using my mws Aquadoula,which she bleaches and clients purchase their own liners. I wasn't comortable with bleach either...but I forgot about the tap. Is there any way you can filter it? I know there are those bath balls...I can't visualize any of this, can yall tell me if that is logical?

[plantmommy]

chlorine will dissipate if the water sits overnight. I had the tub filled ahead of time. the aquadoula heater keeps the water hot.

[Mama2Lennon]

I was planning on just getting a "kiddie pool" from a Zellers (not Walmart ) mostly for price but also to have one for ds. What kind of hose should I get to fill the pool? I am clueless about this. Any other ideas for filling a pool? Is there anything I could use that would keep the water warm? Any help would be so appreciated. I still have a few months but I want to be prepared, also, a birthing pool and whatever else I will need, are going xmas gifts!!!

[blessed2bamommie]

my mw says a white marine hose and you might need a sink to faucet adapter? : I'm not sure about keeping the pool warm...I think my mw mentioned it; but, since we're now using her aquadoula, which has a heater, its a moot point. Hope other mamas chime in.

mama for the chlorine tip! I didn't know that! We'll set up beforehand so it will have time to dissipate.

[morgainesmama]

I was fortunate enough to borrow (for free!) an Aquadoula from a friend for my UC waterbirth and it ROCKED! Although we barely filled it before baby was born so didn't really use the heater ... I was only out of bed 3 hours.

As far as filling it, we used a garden hose and a faucet adapter. I ran the hose for a few minutes to wash out the plastic residue. We also used an aquadoula liner in the tub, pretty plasticy but we threw it out after draining.

For disinfectants: vinegar, either full strength or diluted 1:1 with water, is a great disinfectant. Call the Heinz people; they'll tell you. Also cheap vodka is my heavy duty disinfectant, diluted again 1:1 with water.

I'd recommend for filling that you turn your water heater as high as you will go (we were super careful w/the kids) so that you get more hot water per tank. You might fill it halfway around when you think it's "time" -- you cna always empty and refill later. Then just top it off with hot water. Also, you might keep a second hose on hand for siphoning off cold water and replacing with hot. And setting it up on heavy blankets or other insulators keeps the heat from going out through the floor.

HTH --

Kristi

[blessed2bamommie]

now, what about emptying it? and a traditional hosp birth they'll just clean off the table or whatever if you poop...and if you're in the tub....

[morgainesmama]

We used the same hose we used for filling. DH ran it outside, filled the other end of the hose to make some pressure, then emptied it -- instant siphon.

Kristi

[indigolilybear]

here is our birth tub for our last:
http://www.qualityinflatables.com/58480.html

cheap! and quick service.

as for keeping it hot, we boiled water and added it as needed. My first labor was long and taht's what we did. The third, our free-waterbirth, it was just DH and I and luckily it was fast and no additional water was needed. But we did have the water turned up....

[blessed2bamommie]

Originally Posted by morgainesmama

We used the same hose we used for filling. DH ran it outside, filled the other end of the hose to make some pressure, then emptied it -- instant siphon.

Kristi

I'm in a second floor apt...those guys that moved in *might* just moved if they saw afterbirth headed their way! :

[2+twins]

Hi - I rent birth tubs, so maybe I can help. For filling the tub get a hose that says "Drinking water safe". These are sold at stores like Orchard Supply & Ace Hardware, are white, and say something about being for "Recreational Use". The other garden hose variety are treated with chemicals, so that's why they aren't recommended. For draining the tub you can use any hose you wish (you might want to use a different hose if you're thinking of using the white one again down the line). We connect the hose to a submersible pump (which are a bit pricey) and ran the hose to the toilet and shut the lid. This keeps the hose secure and the toilet will not let itself overflow so you really don't need to keep tabs on it. The pump drains the pool to all but a tiny bit (we lift the pool near the end to get the remaining water to puddle against one side and drain a bit more) then we sop up the remainder with a large towel. If you don't have/can't get a pump, you can siphon the water out with the hose or get one of those waterbed fill kits. You should use a fish net to first skim any solids out of the water. I think the suggestion to clean it with the water/vinegar/extract/oil blend sounded good (writing that down!). What kind of tub will you be using? If it's your own tub then I don't think you need to do more then clean it like you normally would (as someone else said), but if it's a kiddie pool I'd go ahead and wipe it down with that mixture and let it dry in the sun (if possible) to natural sterilize it. Lemme know if I can help more.

ETA: If you're using a fishy pool, start with cool water then make the water gradually warmer so you don't melt the pool!

[blessed2bamommie]

for weighing in Jenne! A couple of us are using Aquadoulas...so that has a pump that you can just empty the water into the toilet?

remove solids out the water....well, forgive me : but I and I'm sure dh won't find being in the water with poop appealing at all! hmmmmmm....wonder how sanitary that is to the baby....poop water...

Well, my cb instructor says that early labor can begin with loose stools to clear the way, so : may I have them and be all cleaned out before I get in the tub!

[2+twins]

Whoever rents you the Aquadoula will most likely be renting you a pump along with it. I've used the Aquadoula myself and the woman who rented it to me supplied a pump.

The solids - well, yeah, that can be poop, vernix floating about, blood clots - stuff like that. The pump will get clogged on those, so scooping them out first is necessary.

I had the experience like your cb instructor said (both times) with the loose stools when labor started. I don't think I had any floating poopies in the tub, but I'd have to ask dh to be sure. :LOL