So you are interested in water birth? That's Awesome! Water birth is one of the many options available to you through Gentle Beginnings.

Water birth has always been an option at Gentle Beginnings and we are now happy to announce that we have expanded our services to include the option of renting an Aqua Doula Birth Tub for a reduced fee.

As always our clients still have the option to use their own garden tubs for water birth, as well as purchasing or renting any other birth tub. See the resource page for more tubs available for purchase.

In my opinion, Aqua Doula is the best portable birth tub available on the market. It is much deeper than the blow up pools allowing the laboring woman to fully cover her pregnant belly in the water. Because it is not a blow up pool there is no need to be concerned about what happens if the pool leaks or breaks during your labor. (Thankfully we've had only a few leaks with the other pools and nothing too catastrophic has happened so far. That is why I am still willing to work with those pools too.)

Aqua Doula also comes with a heater which keeps the water at the perfect temperature. This means the pool may be set up days before you need it and it will stay ready with no need to assemble or fill after labor has begun. It also means that there will be no need to bail out cold water and add warm water during your labor.

The Aqua Doula tub will be available to Gentle Beginnings' clients on a first come, first serve basis. The rental fee is $175 which includes set up and clean up. The tub will be delivered to your home when you reach 37 weeks gestation and remain there until you deliver your baby. The time it will remain in your home is anywhere from a few days to about 5 weeks.

Once the tub has been reserved for a birth, it will not be available to anyone else during the same time frame. So the sooner you reserve the tub, the better. But remember you can still purchase other tubs, use your garden tub or even rent another Aqua Doula tub from the company (though renting from me will save you money).

In addition to the rental fee there are a few other small items you will need to purchase for your water birth including a liner for the tub which costs $24. Please contact me for more details.

Be sure and check out the waterbirth stories in our Birth Stories Section!