Swan neck taps are often seen mounted on the rims of water birth pools.
However, swan neck taps retain larger volumes of water which then stagnates and HFN 30 and HPSC recommends that swan-neck taps should not be used as they do not empty after use and could be prone to microbial biofouling with microorganisms including Legionella and P. aeruginosa the latter of which was associated with a swan neck tap during the neonatal outbreak in Northern Ireland (HPSC, 2015).
Taps for water birth pools should be wall mounted, NOT rim mounted and conform to WRAS regulations.
