The Active Birth Pool has been recognised at the prestigious Building Better Healthcare Awards, receiving a “Highly Commended” accolade in the category for Best Internal Building Product.
Judges praised the exceptional quality of the pool’s design and manufacturing, describing the Active Birth Pool as highly appealing and noting the care, precision and innovation behind its development.
Designed for modern maternity units, the Active Birth Pool brings together beauty, durability, functionality and clinical practicality in one seamless, purpose-built product. Every element has been carefully considered — from the way mothers move and rest during labour, to the way midwives support, monitor and care for them.
At the heart of the design is a simple but powerful idea: the pool should support physiological labour and birth. Mothers have generous space to move freely and instinctively, with the freedom to adopt the upright, forward-leaning and supported positions that are most natural during labour.
One of the pool’s most distinctive features is its signature extra-wide rim. With broad, smooth, bull-nosed edges flowing into the sculpted skirting and down to the floor, the rim gives the Active Birth Pool its unmistakable profile.
It is also highly practical. The wide, flat surface allows mothers to lean forward comfortably on their forearms — one of the most effective positions during labour. It also provides secure support when entering or leaving the pool, while giving midwives and birth partners a stable place to lean, rest or assist.
Integrated handrails, set neatly into the rim, offer additional support for mothers in upright positions, helping them feel safe, stable and in control.
The Active Birth Pool also tackles one of the most important concerns in water birth: emergency evacuation. Built-in design features give midwives several safe options for assisting a mother from the pool, in line with Health & Safety and Manual Handling requirements.
Two standout features are the Labour Support Seat and the Safety Seat.
The Labour Support Seat has been physiologically designed to help support the mother’s pelvis and birth canal as the body prepares for a natural birth.
The rim-level Safety Seat provides a wide, comfortable platform for the mother to lean on, supports safe emergency evacuation, and allows midwives to monitor mother and baby without requiring the mother to stand or leave the water.
The pool’s seamless, one-piece construction incorporates a deeply sculpted concave skirting panel, allowing midwives to work close to the mother in comfort, with space for their legs beneath the pool.
The Active Birth Pool is manufactured in Ficore®, a proprietary composite material specially developed for high-quality baths. Ficore® was chosen to overcome many of the problems associated with conventional pool materials. It is 50% harder than acrylic and fibreglass, highly resistant to chemicals, and exceptionally durable.
Despite its strength, the surface is smooth, tactile and warm to the touch. Its high insulation value also helps the pool retain water temperature up to six times longer than standard acrylic or fibreglass birth pools.
Handmade and custom-built to order by a team with more than 95 years’ combined experience in the design and production of high-end baths, the Active Birth Pool is built to deliver decades of reliable service.
For maternity units seeking a water birth pool that combines clinical performance, comfort, safety and outstanding design, the Active Birth Pool offers a compelling first choice.
