Made in Water - La Bassine birth pool

Right from the start I knew that I wanted to have a homebirth, hospitals are definitely not or me, but it wasn't until during our hypnobirth classes when we watched some water births, that we considered this as an option.

The more I thought about it the more I liked the idea so I started looking around or a pool that we could use at home.  There seemed to be two options - the birth pool in a box and the made in water La Bassine.  After a good look at both we decided to go with the La Bassine as I wasn't too sure about the seat in the birth pool in a box and the La Bassine seemed to offer a larger internal space for the total dimensions.

We bought the La Bassine birth pool essential kit, including the pool, a heat retaining cover, electric pump, water pump, eco hose, tap connector, repair kit, debris net, protective sheet and a nylon storage bag, everything you need to set up, use and empty the pool.

As directed in the instructions we had a test run setting up and filling the pool.  The pump supplied to inflate the pool was very noisy, but fortunately worked very quickly, the hose was plenty long enough to reach the taps at the other end of the house and the protective sheet was huge and could have covered the entire room.

In just over an hour the pool was inflated, filled and ready to go.

I really liked this pool.  The bottom is inflated as well as the sides so it is really comfortable to sit or kneel in.  The sides are wide enough to give a good support to neck/head if you're leaning back against them.  The pool definitely helped with comfort during labour, I got out several times for various reasons and it was always wonderful to get back in.

The water stayed warm for a goo length of time (I'm not sure how long, I was busy with other things!) we did have to refill but I was in there all day so no surprise.

Slightly disappointingly, the pool developed a hole towards the end of my labour, I'm not sure how as there was nothing in the pool but me and a floating thermometer.  I went to change position and found the hole with my hand.  Credit where due though, the pool retained its shape and all the water despite the large hole in the internal wall.

Hole discovered in the pool

I was really disappointed that the pool developed a hole, as it was quite expensive and we had bought one rather than hiring as we had hoped to use it more than once.

I contacted the company and they told me (not overly politely!) that the pool was only guaranteed for one use and if we wanted to use it more than once we should have bought the professional pool (I didn't realise there were two), however they did offer me a discount on a future purchase which I thought was a fair offer.  I responded and accepted the offer but did not get any further response from them so not an overwhelming success!

I would recommend the pool, as it was incredibly comfortable, however based on my experience I would recommend that people bought the professional rather than the standard version unless you are sure you only want to use it once.  I will consider buying a La Bassine pool again, but would also have another good look at the market competitors.