Your Water Birth Checklist: What Do You Actually Need?

Planning a water birth?

Here’s the practical list of what you’ll need — plus a few things that are definitely not essential but can make your birth space feel a lot more like your space.

If you're planning a homebirth, ask your midwife for her own supply list before you start shopping. She may provide some of these things herself.

The Water Birth Checklist

MUST-HAVES

Pool & water

• ☐ Suitable birth pool

• ☐ Liner, if required

• ☐ Air pump, if required

• ☐ New garden hose OR drinking-water-grade hose

• ☐ Correct tap connector

• ☐ Reliable hot and cold water

• ☐ Water thermometer

• ☐ Hose and connector tested before labour

• ☐ Hot-water capacity checked

Hygiene & practicalities

• ☐ Clean sieve/net

• ☐ Disposable gloves

• ☐ Bin bags

• ☐ Waterproof floor protection if needed

• ☐ Non-slip protection if needed

• ☐ Container for wet towels

• ☐ Plenty of clean towels

Emptying the pool

• ☐ Submersible water pump if needed

• ☐ Drainage hose

• ☐ Safe place for the water to drain

• ☐ Someone designated to empty and clear the pool

For you & baby

• ☐ Comfortable robe/clothes

• ☐ Clean clothes for afterwards

• ☐ Something to wear in the pool, if you want to

• ☐ Baby clothes/warm coverings

• ☐ Water bottle

• ☐ Snacks

• ☐ Hair ties/clips

Birth preparation

• ☐ Ask your midwife for her supply list

• ☐ Check what your midwife provides

• ☐ Agree where the pool will go

• ☐ Check any specific water birth requirements

• ☐ Birth preferences/birth plan

• ☐ Hospital bag packed if planning a homebirth

• ☐ Bowl/container for the placenta if requested

• ☐ Suitable bag/container if you plan to keep your placenta

LOVELY-TO-HAVES

Making the space yours

• ☐ Fairy lights

• ☐ Battery candles

• ☐ Candles, if appropriate and safe

• ☐ Birth playlist

• ☐ Speaker

• ☐ Affirmation cards/signs

• ☐ Meaningful photographs or objects

• ☐ Soft lighting

• ☐ Labour-appropriate aromatherapy, if suitable for you

Comfort & labour support

• ☐ Rebozo/birth-support wrap

• ☐ Birth ball

• ☐ Pillows/cushions

• ☐ Birthing stool

• ☐ Massage tools

• ☐ Hot/cold packs

• ☐ Lip balm

• ☐ Extra changes of clothes

The thing you can't put on a checklist

Permission to change your mind.

You can fill the pool and never get in. You can get in and get out. You can labour beautifully in water for hours and give birth on land. You can decide you want different pain relief.

Preparing for a water birth gives you another option. It doesn't make you a promise.

The pool is there to work for you. You are not there to work for the pool.

If you're wondering whether labouring in water is still worthwhile even if you don't give birth there, read Does Labouring in Water Really Help With Pain?.

A little more about what you'll need

The birth pool

Choose a pool designed for labour and birth, with enough depth and room to move comfortably.

The Evia birth pool, created by The BirthSpace, was designed specifically for labour and birth, with comfort, hygiene and practicality at the centre of the design.

Explore the Evia birth pool

Check whether your chosen pool also requires a liner, air pump or other accessories.

Hose, tap connector and hot water

A new garden hose is fine, or you can use a drinking-water-grade hose if you prefer.

Make sure you have the correct tap connector and test it before labour. Check that the hose reaches the pool and that your hot-water system can cope with filling it.

Labour is not the ideal moment for an emergency trip to the hardware shop carrying a photograph of your kitchen tap.

Water temperature

Have a suitable water thermometer available and follow your midwife or maternity provider's guidance about water temperature.

No elbows and “seems about right” required.

Keeping the water clean

Let's address the question that doesn't usually make the water birth mood board:

What happens if I poo in the pool?

Someone removes it.

Have a clean sieve or net available for debris, along with gloves and bin bags. Birth involves bodily fluids. Your midwife knows this.

If you're worried about hygiene or infection, read What Are the Risks of Water Birth?.

Towels, clothes and the floor

Have plenty of towels, comfortable clothes for afterwards and something warm for your baby.

Protect the floor if necessary and have somewhere waterproof to put wet towels.

Water travels.

Emptying the pool

A submersible pump and drainage hose can make emptying the pool much easier.

Work out where the water will go and, importantly, who will deal with it afterwards.

Preferably not you.

Making the space feel good

Fairy lights, music, affirmations, photographs, soft lighting and battery candles aren't necessary for a water birth.

But environment matters.

If something helps you feel safe, private and comfortable, it can have a place in your birth space.

If you're considering aromatherapy, check with your midwife and make sure anything you use is appropriate for pregnancy, labour, babies and your circumstances.

Food, drink and comfort

Keep water and easy snacks nearby, along with anything you commonly use for comfort.

Hair ties are surprisingly important.

A rebozo, birth ball, massage tools, cushions or hot/cold packs may also be useful depending on how you and your birth team work.

The placenta

Ask your midwife what she wants prepared for the placenta.

You may need a bowl or container, and if you plan to keep your placenta, ask about an appropriate bag/container and safe handling and storage.

If you're planning a homebirth

Ask your midwife what she brings and what she expects you to provide. Her list should take priority over a generic online checklist.

And pack a hospital bag.

Not because you're expecting your homebirth to go wrong. Not because you're planning for failure.

Birth is unpredictable, and if your plans change, having a bag ready means you can simply pick it up and go.

Think of it as preparation, not prediction.

Hopefully it stays untouched.

Want to know what being in the pool is actually like?

We've covered the beautiful bits, the practical bits and even the poo.

Read What Actually Happens During a Water Birth?.

And if your next question is “But is water birth actually safe?”, start with Is Water Birth Safe? What the Evidence Actually Says.

This article provides general information and does not replace individual medical or midwifery advice. Equipment requirements and clinical guidance vary by location and maternity provider.