I just got the birthing pool from my MW last week. It's a 150 gallon rubber maid (not sure of the brand). I was hoping it would come with a liner. Well, it didn't and now I'm wondering how to sanitize it since others have used it in the past (I'm thinking about all the body fluids that were in there:gross

Any thoughts???

I used a tub just like that. (well 100 gallons)
I loved bracing myself against the hard sides during contractions.
I did wipe it out with soap.
Then we filled it with pillows and blankets placed a tarp in it and duck taped
it in place under the rim on the outside . We picked up our tarp at home depot. Just be sure to get a sturdy one, mine sprung a leak.
DH ended up washing the pillows and blankets afterwards.

If you are particularly concerned about disinfecting you could use
borax or green soup, or a disinfecting essential oil like thyme or tea tree.
Perhaps you should cross post this in a home management forum.

I just got the birthing pool from my MW last week. It's a 150 gallon rubber maid (not sure of the brand). I was hoping it would come with a liner. Well, it didn't and now I'm wondering how to sanitize it since others have used it in the past (I'm thinking about all the body fluids that were in there:gross

Any thoughts???

The government standards (for daycares, nursing homes, commercial kitchens, etc) for sanitizing hard surfaces is 1 tsp bleach to 1 gallon of water. The only people I've met who were able to smell bleach at that concentration were *very* sensitive folks... one lady had hep C and the rest had extreme environmental allergies.

I don't normally "sanitize" things but when I've been required to do so, I prefer using hydrogen peroxide over bleach for safety reasons. The fumes don't bother me and I don't worry so much about a toddler potentially getting into it and getting it on the hands or in the mouth.

Many folks use various essential oils for sanitizing surfaces. I only avoid it because it's much pricier than my infrequently used H2O2 and I have friends with environmental allergies who I like to have able to visit in my home.

~BV

I personally would not use one without a liner. Can you buy one? Also make sure to buy new hoses for getting the water in there.

You can buy a disposable liner, or add 1/2 cup salt to the water.

Disposable Liner $19 (http://www.yourwaterbirth.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=23&products_id=67)

Nan's mom: How important would it be to use new hoses?

Stacy: What would be the benefit of the salt as opposed to the liner? Oh, and thank you for the link!

:notes2: I have been offered a slightly used la bassine and was wondering the same thing. Not so concerned about transmission of disease as general sterile-ish environment at time of birth.

I don't normally "sanitize" things but when I've been required to do so, I prefer using hydrogen peroxide over bleach for safety reasons. The fumes don't bother me and I don't worry so much about a toddler potentially getting into it and getting it on the hands or in the mouth.

~BV

My midwife had me buy peroxide to clean the pool.

Stacy: What would be the benefit of the salt as opposed to the liner? Oh, and thank you for the link!

Salt kills anything in the water, so if there were any lingering bacteria after you washed it, that would get them.

Nan's mom: How important would it be to use new hoses?


I would buy a new hose before I would worry about using a second-hand pool.
Hoses can't "air out" and a new hose only costs about $10 at an aquarium store or Petsmart.

I'd either do the bleach/water solution mentioned above and rinse with plain water and dry with a clean towel or air dry.
Hydrogen peroxide is also good.
Salt doesn't kill everything in water. Some bacterias like a certain (low) salt concentation and would be killed by "plain" water.

With a more durable tub like that a liner is probably a good idea at any rate. If it were a la bassine I'd probably just clean it really well.