I'm having my first homebirth in June and I'm not sure where to put the fishy pool. Most of my house is carpeted. I do have tile in the bathroom and kitchen. I could put the pool in the bathroom but it would take up almost all of the space. I could also put it in the kitchen, but my kitchen is small and it would be in the way if anyone wanted to get into the refrigerator or cabinets.

It would fit best in my bedroom at the end of my bed, but my carpets are light and I'm worried about a mess. Would tarps offer enough protection? Where did you put your birth tub?? Did you put anything underneath it?

Thanks in advance!

Big ol' tarp underneath with towels around the base of the pool should be fine. :) That's what we're probably going to do.

Mine's in the basement, has a few foamy puzzle mats underneath and two padded moving blankets on top of the foamy puzzle mats.


Nice n cushy.

We used ours on a very light beige carpet in a rental house last time. I put down plastic tarps with a sheet over top so they werent slippery. I dont recall any mess getting out at all, it was all contained in the tub and then I had a chux between my legs when I got out. I wasnt getting in and out a lot, though, but the plastic and some towels or old sheets should do the trick even if you are. :)

Think too about access to filling water and drainage spouts... thats our bigger hurdle this time!

Living room -- on light carpet on a tarp.

I put my fishy pool on top of several layers of army wool blankets and an old comforter to insulate it from the concrete with vinyl tile floor of our enclosed back porch. The porch is lovely windows on 3 sides, attaches to our dining room which has immediate access to the kitchen for sustainance, the sun shined in all day, my dh stapled a sheet up when the sun started to get too low into my eyes. I'll be there again and I hope I get some sort of pretty curtain up this time.

But to answer your question would tarps be enough? Yes, I do believe tarps would be enough with some blankets or towels as insulation and water collection from getting in and out, filling with warm water and movement. You will want to make sure you feel like it is safe to move and slosh a little if necessary, I'm a mover in labor working that baby down.

We are placing ours in the living room. We have hardwood floors & a wool carpet, so over those we are placing a painters plastic mat & some towels to catch the drips.

when lilah was born, mine was in our family room- on off white berber carpet. i can't quite recall what was under it but we did not have any leaking or staining on the carpet.

On a tarp in the bedroom...no messes and peroxide gets everything out anyway.

In our bedroom, right next to our bathroom (the bathroom is in our bedroom).

I bought the 2-pack plastic painting drop "cloths" they sell at WalMart. One went on our bed and the other under the pool. They are HUGE and came out quite a bit around the pool. We didn't have any problems with the carpet at all. Of course, most of the mess was IN the pool. ;)

we had ours in our bedroom with light color carpet. just a couple of towels, no mess, the midwives used peroxide to clean up some drops of blood when we weren't looking.

We had ours on light carpet with tarps underneath in the spare bedroom of our rental (not enough room in our bedroom or it would have been in there).

Living room -- on light carpet on a tarp.

:yeah:

no mess at all. And fwiw hydrogen peroxide gets blood off of anything....

-Angela

had it between the bed and master bath in our bedroom. 2 steps from the shower and 2 steps from my big comfy bed...on top of 2 mexican blankets with a shower curtain between them.

Make sure that you have enough walk around room so your partner/doula/midwife can get to you in the pool.

the only water that got away from us was when we were filling it and I had to let go of the hose due to a contraction and the room got a little sprayed...:lol

First birth, Aquadoula in living room, over a tarp. Second birth, fishy pool in bedroom, over a tarp. I liked second alternative better--pool was more comfortable, faster to fill up, and more privacy in bedroom.

We will be putting it in the living room which were we spend more of our time... it is right next to the kitchen and near the bathroom and my room...
We have wood floors but I plan on putting a blanket and plastic down...

In the dining room with a tarp underneath.

Thanks for all of the replies! It sounds like it will be fine for me to set the pool up in my bedroom. :banana

I put mine in the living room on light carpet with painter's plastic underneath and a few towels to step on when getting in/out.