If you look at the back rim of our new range of water birth pools you’ll notice a “keyhole” shaped channel that runs down to the floor of the pool.
The “water channel” is an innovation in water birth pool design unique to Active Birth Pools.
We trialled it when we designed the Princess Pool in 2014 and we’re so pleased with the result that we gradually incorporated it into our other pools as well.
The water channel has two import functions:
- It protects mothers by preventing them from hitting their heads on the spout
- It opens up the inside of the pool to 360 degrees of unobstructed movement
We have always thought that there is a unacceptable risk of mothers hitting their heads on the spout (the risk of this happening is multiplied exponentially with rim mounted taps).
The thought of this happening is abhorrent to us so we decided to something about it.
With the taps mounted on the wall 25cm above the rim and spout the centred above the water channel it is virtually impossible for mothers to hit their head on it.
This is clearly illustrated in the photo below.
With the water channel in place we redesigned the back half of the pool to give mothers greater freedom of movement.
Mothers are now able to the utilise the full internal circumference the pool to explore a greater range of positions.
They can actually lean against the back end of the pool without fear of hitting their head and use the recessed handgrips or wrap around bull-nosed shaped rim to grab onto for support.
The pools have been redesigned to make midwives more comfortable and give them greater access around the perimeter of the pool.
The flange (where the pool meets the wall) has been reduced to 50cm and the curves around the back section broadened.
This not only makes the pool more sensuous and appealing from both a psychological and aesthetic perspective but more utilitarian.
Midwives can now get round the back of the pool to a much greater extent and sit in comfort with their legs underneath the extra wide rim.
All in all we feel that this simple innovation has been a game changer that makes our water birth pools even safer and more user-friendly.
If you’re looking for a water birth pool we are uniquely qualified to be of service
