Calgary Birth Pool Rentals

Meet the Face Behind Calgary Birth Pool Rentals!

Hi! I’m Sonja, the owner of Calgary Birth Pool Rentals for the past 11 years. It recently occurred to me that I’ve never done an intro post—so here we go!

I’m a retired birth and postpartum Doula, having spent 10 years supporting over 500 births and nearly 1,000 postpartum families. I also founded Calgary’s first Doula agency, growing it to a team of nine incredible Doulas. I stepped away from that world in 2020 when COVID hospital policies made it impossible to continue.

Birth pools became a passion of mine after our youngest was born at home in the water—an intentional choice after our second child made a surprise arrival… in the car!

When I’m not helping families with birth pool rentals, I run Higher Altitude Adventures, where I work as a backpacking and hiking guide.

In my free time, I like to think of myself as a midlife wannabe athlete—I completed a triathlon in summer 2024 and am running a half marathon in Vegas next week!

A few fun facts:
☕ I’m an iced coffee addict.
💛 Yellow is my favorite colour.
💕 I’ve been happily married to my soulmate for 18 years, and we have three amazing kids—plus an embarrassing number of pets.
🐶 I’m a dog person… but also have a wild collection of tarantulas.
🎓 Our first child graduates from high school this year. (How’d that happen? I’m fairly certain I’m only 22). 🤣
🧠 I have ADHD and am terrible at social media (not on TikTok or Snapchat—oops).
🏆 I think I’d be voted “most likely person to talk you into a crazy adventure”.

Thanks for being here! Drop a comment and say hi—I promise I’ll try to be better at this social media thing.

Books. Books. And more books. 📚 I’ve been holding onto BOXES of pregnancy, birth, postpartum and toddler books since I retired as a doula in 2020. Partially because I have ADHD, partially because I love books, but also because nostalgia. 😍 I’ve kept the books I want my own girls to read; but the rest should be used too. They are all packed with wisdom and and headed to one of my favourite doulas in my city. is lovely, be sure to check her out. ❤️

Let’s talk disposable items. We are proud to offer Calgary, and area, the most comprehensive water birth kits. All pool rentals/purchases come with a new hose, tarp, debris net, gloves, tea lights and pool liner. These items come into contact with bodily fluids at just about every birth. For example most renters will put the hose into the bottom of the pool for easy filling; often times with the person giving birth. While we could attempt to sanitize a hose, there’s no guarantee a used hose will be free of bacteria, chemicals, or other contaminants from previous uses… All of which could pose health risks to both the mother and baby. For these reasons every family gets a new hose; and you are protected 100% from the risk of contamination. Does it cost us more? Yes. Do we care? No. Keeping you, and your new little one safe, shouldn’t be associated with the idea of “how can we save money”. We’ve been doing pool rentals for 10 years now, the right way. 💜

Welcome to 2024… from my new office! I’m so pleased to FINALLY be in here. 😁 Still have a lot to move, sort and do… but I’m fully functional at this point. Woohoo!!! Big round of applause to the men in my life who put a lot of labour into this project. They put up with my lack of spacial awareness, inability to envision furniture in final places, and poor math abilities. 😆 #2024

Wishing you and your family, a very happy holidays!! ♥️