Water birth is possible both at home and at the hospital. It’s a beautiful experience to be able to birth in the comfort of your own home. Below you will find more information about having a water birth at home.
You cannot have a water birth in your bathtub, since this is unsafe. You will need a specially designed birth pool. You can place this birth pool in your bedroom, your living room, kitchen, or if you have enough space, your bathroom.
You must have enough space around your birth pool for the midwife to walk around it. The birth pool needs to be free-standing on at least two sides of the pool. Please keep this in mind when deciding on the size of the birth pool (Regular or Mini).
While the midwife needs to have enough space around the birth pool, it is also essential to consider the distance between the tap and the birth pool. The Birth Pool Water Hose, which you will use to fill the birth pool, has a reach of 10 meters. Therefore, you have to place the birth pool no further than 10 meters away from the tap.
Your midwife might prefer to have the birth pool placed on the ground floor. Please consult with your midwife where to best place the birth pool in your home.
* Please note that this information refers to the birth pool purchased on birthpools.com only. If you purchased or rented your birth pool with another vendor, please make sure to check the measurements of their water hose!
A regular floor can handle the weight of a filled birth pool with ease. Even older houses, such as the canal houses in Amsterdam and Amersfoort, never had an issue with our birth pools. However, due to the different construction of houses, we cannot guarantee that your specific floor can hold the weight of the birth pool. To make sure, please check your floor plans and carrying-weight of your floors to determine the maximum floor load.
The weight of the Mini birth pool is distributed across 1,07 m². The total weight of the Mini birth pool is 587 kg (birth pool + water + mother*) and the distributed weight load is 549 kg per m². This weight is evenly distributed, so there is no point load.
The weight of the Regular birth pool is distributed across 1,6 m². The total weight of the regular birth pool is 660 kg (birth pool + water + mother*) and the distributed weight load is 460 kg per m². This weight is evenly distributed, so there is no point load.
* in this example we used an average weight of 80 kg for a pregnant mother
Leakage from the birth pool is highly unlikely. Each pool is inflated, and factory tested to ensure that it has no defects and then 5 – 10% are randomly sampled and tested again by independent inspectors.
During our time in this business, we have distributed thousands of birth baths. This issue has never arisen in anyone’s home. Over 15 hospitals work with our birth pools, and leakage has never been an issue.
The birth pool consists of 4 large air chambers (plus seat) that are inflated separately. The Birth Pool Liner functions as a water container, ensuring that no water can leak out the birth pool.
In the unlikely event of a leak in the air chambers of the birth pool, you will still have enough time to refill the air chamber and (partially) empty the pool of water with the help of the water pump. This will prevent water damage. When a birth pool has a small leak in one of the air chambers that make up the side of the pool, the birth pool can still be filled with water high enough to birth in. As such, the leak will not jeopardize the safety of the water birth.
The preparations required for a water birth are of immense importance. Make sure you order your birth pool in time. Also, you (and/or your partner) must study the instruction manual. This way, you and your partner will be prepared before the moment arrives! Please read more about how to prepare for a water birth here.
Are you convinced that you want to have a water birth at home? Then you can start exploring the right birth pool that fits your home and needs. Would you like to know more about setting up the birth pool?
