A freestanding mid-size water birth pool with 360° access for modern maternity rooms
The Venus 360 Water Birth Pool with Water Column is the freestanding version of the Venus II.
It takes the proven mid-size Venus design and adapts it for rooms where the pool is positioned away from the wall.
With the addition of the bespoke Water Column, the Venus II becomes the Venus 360: a freestanding water birth pool that provides 360 degrees of movement around the pool.
This gives maternity teams the generous internal space of the Venus model, combined with improved access around the pool for midwives, birth partners and clinical staff.
The Venus 360 sits between the larger Active 360 and the more compact Princess 360.
This makes it especially useful for maternity rooms where a freestanding pool is preferred, but where the largest model may not be necessary or practical.
The Venus 360 is only slightly smaller inside than the Active 360 and retains many of the same key features.
The Venus 360 therefore offers an important balance: substantial internal space for the mother, 360° access for midwives and a footprint that remains more manageable than the largest freestanding pool.
The Water Column is central to the Venus 360 design.
A freestanding water birth pool creates more flexibility in room layout and movement around the pool, but the plumbing still needs to be positioned somewhere safe, accessible and hygienic.
The Active Birth Pools Water Column is a purpose-designed service column for freestanding 360° water birth pool installations.
It provides a practical location for taps, spout, shower fittings, pipework and plumbing controls while keeping the pool rim clear for mothers and midwives.
This is one of the defining advantages of the Venus 360.
The Water Column allows the pool to be used away from the wall without cluttering the rim with taps, spouts or fittings.
An extra-wide rounded rim for safety, hygiene and access
The rim of a birth pool is not just a decorative edge. It is a working surface.
Mothers use the rim to hold, lean, turn, rest, enter, exit and change position.
Midwives use it to observe, communicate, monitor and provide care.
In an emergency, the rim needs to remain as clear and accessible as possible.
By moving plumbing fixtures onto the Water Column, the Venus 360 helps preserve the rim as a clear support and access surface.
This gives midwives fewer obstructions around the pool and more freedom to move in response to the changing needs of labour and birth.
It also supports hygiene by reducing unnecessary plumbing penetrations, projections and fittings on the pool itself.
Designed for freedom of movement
The Venus 360 gives mothers plenty of internal room to move freely and instinctively find comfortable and beneficial positions.
Its internal form supports upright resting, kneeling, forward-leaning, sitting, supported squatting and changing position in the water.
The water depth and generous internal proportions help mothers benefit from immersion while remaining active and responsive to labour.
Cochrane’s review found that labouring in water may reduce the number of women having an epidural and found no evidence that labouring in water increases the risk of adverse outcomes for women or newborns.
The Venus 360 is designed to make those benefits practical in a freestanding hospital-room layout.
Labour Support Seat
The Venus 360 features an integrated labour support seat.
This versatile support seat is designed to encourage mothers into positions that help the pelvis open.
It gives mothers somewhere to rest in upright postures and to welcome their baby.
The distinctive groove in the middle of the seat allows the sacrum to move freely and helps avoid impinging the birth canal.
These details make the Venus 360 more than a freestanding vessel.
It is a carefully shaped labour and birth environment, designed around movement, comfort and support.
Extra-wide rim for mothers, midwives and partners
The Venus 360 has the same broad, rounded bullnose rim that helps define the Venus range.
For mothers, the rim gives a firm and comfortable handhold in different positions.
It can be used for leaning forward, resting the arms and shoulders, bracing during contractions, changing position or lowering into the water.
For midwives and birth partners, the rim allows close, comfortable support.
Active Birth Pools notes that midwives and partners can sit close with their arms resting on the extra-wide rim and their legs tucked under the pool.
In the Venus 360 configuration, this benefit is strengthened by the clear-rim design created by the Water Column.
With taps and spouts kept off the rim, the working edge of the pool remains more open and usable.
Easier entry and exit
The Venus 360 is designed to support controlled entry and exit.
The Venus 360 data sheet notes that the extra-wide rim, grab rail and step unit make it easier for mothers to get in and out of the pool.
The mother steps up once, sits securely on the broad rim, swivels her legs into the water and lowers herself into the pool.
This avoids the need to climb over the pool edge from a standing position.
The Water Column can also provide an additional reassuring support point in a freestanding installation.
Active Birth Pools notes that the Water Column is strong, sturdy and carefully positioned for freestanding 360° pool installations.
Ficore® composite construction
The Venus 360 is manufactured from Ficore® composite, the specialist material used across the Active Birth Pools range.
Ficore® allows the pool to be produced as a smooth, strong, one-piece form with rounded edges, broad support surfaces and integrated ergonomic features.
Active Birth Pools describes Ficore® as warm to the touch, durable, highly resistant to damage and suitable for repeated cleaning and disinfection in hospital use.
Ficore® also has a greater adhesive factor and is less slippery and more slip resistant than fibreglass or acrylic.
No wet clinical surface should be treated as slip-proof, but Ficore® gives the Venus 360 a more secure-feeling, tactile and substantial surface for mothers and midwives.
Water Safety, Hygiene and Manual Handling
The Venus 360 is designed for maternity environments where cleaning, inspection, infection prevention and water safety are essential.
The Water Column separates plumbing from the pool to maximise hygiene and water safety.
By moving taps, spouts and plumbing controls away from the pool rim, the Water Column reduces unnecessary fittings on the pool shell and creates a cleaner, simpler arrangement for the room.
NICE guidance states that baths and birthing pools should be kept clean using a protocol agreed with the local microbiology department or infection-control guidance and, for birthing pools, in accordance with the manufacturer’s guidelines.
The Venus 360 supports that approach by keeping the pool form simple, clear and easier to manage within hospital cleaning and water-safety procedures.
Optional LED lighting and Bluetooth® sound
The Venus 360 can be supplied with multi-colour LED lighting and Bluetooth® sound to help mothers personalise the ambience of the room.
The Venus 360 technical specification lists a 9-light, 11-colour LED chromotherapy system with rim-mounted controls.
These options can help create a calmer, more personal birth environment while retaining the practical features required for hospital use.
A freestanding pool with practical clinical purpose
The Venus 360 Water Birth Pool with Water Column is not just the Venus II placed away from the wall.
It is a complete freestanding configuration designed around 360° access, clear-rim working space, practical plumbing, hygiene, water safety, mother comfort and midwife access.
For maternity units that want the internal generosity of the Venus II with the flexibility of a freestanding installation, the Venus 360 offers one of the most balanced options on the market.
