What did you do with your birth pool?

[Jennifer13]

I borrowed the one we used. The reason it's not recommended to use it more than once is that they can spring a leak (I've heard a few hilarious stories of mw's dealing with leaking pools, but I'd rather that didn't happen to me!). But you can test it beforehand obviously, and they're pretty well made if you get one of the expensive ones. I chucked the liner. Storing it didn't seem worth it. Gave the pool back. Maybe I'll need to ask for it again one day...

[Eenee]

Lol am I the only one that kept my liner geez how cheap am I!!

[turtlejane]

Most of the "birth pools" have two versions - the personal ones are guaranteed only for one birth, the professional ones are for 10 or 20 uses with a new liner each time. Their plastic is thicker so more resistant to leaks and more durable but otherwise they're the same dimensions etc. They're less than double the price so if you had a friend also planning a water birth they could be useful to share and spilt the price or to sell on!

The professional ones are most likely what midwives who supply them for clients would be using.