Service & terms

About Barefoot Birth Pools

 Why choose us?

Barefoot Birth Pools have been supporting families with their home waterbirths for over 10 years and have worked with thousands of families during that time. Having worked as a Birth Doula, Natal Hypnotherapist and Postnatal Group Leader founding company director, Shona, is able to offer advice and guidance on all aspects of your homebirth plans and pool hire, this service extends throughout the hire whereby phone support is offered seven days a week including evenings. 

Operating from our town centre store we have dedicated cleaning rooms for our pools. With each pool being set up for 12-24 hrs between each hire the pools are cleaned on arrival and again prior to packing using the NHS protocol guidance developed by birth pool manufacturer, Edel Immersys, using the recommended chemical cleaners, Tristel and Clinell. This guidance is also followed for the cleaning and testing of all other birth pool hire equipment. 

We are proud to be recommended by so many Midwives, Doulas and Homebirth groups across the country relying almost exclusively on word-of-mouth to promote our services. We continue to support raising the profile of homebirths through our Community Birth Pool schemes for new homebirth initiatives and our Waterbirth Study Days for Birth Professionals.

Our hire services and equipment are all covered under our comprehensive insurance policy. Providing a deposit for your equipment during your hire is a requirement of this coverage - please find out more about these policies below and also during your final checkout, by clicking on the Terms and Conditions

Questions? Call us
new born baby

Deposits

As a requirement of our insurers all families hiring equipment are required to leave a refundable deposit for the duration of the hire. 

On return of the equipment the items will be checked off, tested and cleaned within 2-3 working days of receipt back with the deposit then being refunded back onto the card that the payment was made from. This can vary between card providers between 2-5 working days. 

The refundable deposit is calculated into the balance of all of our hire items. The amounts are as follows:
  • Birth pool hire deposit £100
  • Birth pool equipment only hire £25
  • Birth stool hire £100
  • TENS machine hire £15
Please find our table of potential deposit deductions to the left. It is very rare we make deposit deductions, we provide guidance through our check sheet, handbook and are always available for support by phone and email should you not be sure of any aspect of your hire.
 
We understand not all families are able to pay the refundable deposit by debit/credit card. Should this be an issue for you we are also able to accept your deposit via cheque which is held on file (and not cashed). This is then posted back to you at the end of the hire once your hire equipment has been returned and tested/cleaned. Please contact us should you wish to use this method.

*Due to the requirements of our insurance hire equipment cannot be dispatched without full payment and the deposit being received.

delivery
delivery

Deposits

As a requirement of our insurers all families hiring equipment are required to leave a refundable deposit for the duration of the hire. 

On return of the equipment the items will be checked off, tested and cleaned within 2-3 working days of receipt back with the deposit then being refunded back onto the card that the payment was made from. This can vary between card providers between 2-5 working days. 

The refundable deposit is calculated into the balance of all of our hire items. The amounts are as follows:
  • Birth pool hire deposit £100
  • Birth pool equipment only hire £25
  • Birth stool hire £100
  • TENS machine hire £15
Please find our table of potential deposit deductions to the left. It is very rare we make deposit deductions, we provide guidance through our check sheet, handbook and are always available for support by phone and email should you not be sure of any aspect of your hire.
 
We understand not all families are able to pay the refundable deposit by debit/credit card. Should this be an issue for you we are also able to accept your deposit via cheque which is held on file (and not cashed). This is then posted back to you at the end of the hire once your hire equipment has been returned and tested/cleaned. Please contact us should you wish to use this method.

*Due to the requirements of our insurance hire equipment cannot be dispatched without full payment and the deposit being received.

Cancellations, returns and refunds

We understand how unpredictable preparing for your labour and birth can be and that sometimes plans change. Please find below a table explaining the process for refunds following a cancellation.
  • Pool hire cancelled before dispatch - full refund less £10 administration fee.
  • Pool hire cancelled on the day of dispatch/on day of delivery (pool must be collected following day) - full refund less £35 administration fee and return courier costs.
  • Pool cancelled after day of delivery - your hire has begun and no further refunds for your pool hire can be made.  

As stated in our Terms and Conditions of hire we do not offer refunds or partial refunds for hire pools returned unused. Our hire charges cover the time that your equipment is expected to be on loan to you and is not available for others to hire, along with the cleaning of all equipment - all items that leave our premises are tested and cleaned on their return to the shop regardless of whether the hirer has 'used' the equipment. 

Barefoot Birth Pools agrees to refund in full all products purchased in addition to your hire or purchased in our Waterbirth shop that have been returned, unused and sealed within 30 days of receipt unless for hygiene reasons we are unable to do so (items falling in this category have the exception to the policy noted in the product description). 

 In the unlikely event of an item purchased via Barefoot Birth Pools being faulty, we will of course, send a replacement product immediately to you. It is your responsibility to check your items within 3 days of receipt to allow us adequate time to replace any damaged, missing or faulty items. 

Please use the contact information detailed below to arrange refund or replacement of any products or to discuss any of our policies further.

TENS machine hire
Cancellation of TENS machine hires do not incur the £5/£20 fee and will be refunded in full if cancelled prior to dispatch. 
If we are notified that the TENS hire has been cancelled after dispatch but before delivery the equipment can be returned for refund. 
Once delivered the hire has begun. 
Returns
a mom and new born baby
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