Moneysaving home birth essentials?!

theoldcynic

Apologies if this has been written about before, please feel free to move/merge if so.

Hi :wave: just wondered if anyone has had a home birth and what essentials they used and of course in the interests of this site (and my pocket!) if there were ways to reduce the costs (without compromising on safety/hygiene etc) ?

I was thinking of getting some B&Q value dust sheets to cover the furniture? £1.78 Has anyone tried them/know if it would be suitable or good alternatives?

My MW suggested puppy training sheets (or any pad/sheet that had a plastic backing) for my comfort/bedding/sofas instead of maternity pads? Anyone tried these or know where to get them from cheaply?

Old towels (sadly just given a lot away - arrgh!- does anyone know where to get some cheaply atm?).

Thinking of hiring a TENs machine as the one I want is out of my price range but hiring is within it unless anyone has other options/ideas I haven't thought of?

Looking at birthing pools but they seem so expensive and really not keen on having a used one incase the hoses aren't sterile etc? Anyone done this?

Anything else I haven't thought of? Things that might help MW or OH too? or any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance

fluffnutter

Dust sheets?? OMG. Really? It's no wonder people choose to go to hospital. Imagine the mess

Seriously though, if you want the dust sheets to protect against your waters, blood or any other 'fluid' then they're not going to be waterproof so might not do the trick. And what do you mean by 'furniture'? Book cases? Dining room table? Telly? Wardrobe? I know an active birth is recommended but surely you won't be flinging yourself around that much?

I've got maternity mats for my bed (I'm due in 5 weeks) and these seem fairly big. Could you get away with putting these everywhere you're likely to sit?

Re. birthing pools I'd advise you to chat to Miss_Money because she's got one. Unfortunately she's in it right now giving birth If you hire one though surely it will be sterile?

If you want a TENs machine then hiring it is the way to go. I think it's about £20 for five weeks round my way.

It's a shame about the towels. I guess cheapies are always available from somewhere like Tesco.

theoldcynic

Thanks fluffnutter your post did make me giggle! The 'dust' sheets are waterproof as they're made from polythene or so i've been told lol! i might have to check that out if anyone knows?

It was the midwife who suggested getting stuff to protect the furniture I assume she meant sofas or the bed depending on where I give birth. A friend of mine stood up after she gave birth at home and apparently the placenta pretty much "fell out" causing a bit of a mess lol!

Thanks for the maternity pads suggestion I didn't realise how large they were folded up in the packet.

Unless anyone knows of a good place/site for hiring a pool I didn't see much difference between hiring one and purchasing one?

Yes i will have to buy new towels just wondering if anyone knew of any towel sales going on? As you can imagine the costs of having a baby are stacking up atm and although we're managing and did account for it we've also had a huuuuge amount of bad luck with things going wrong and needing replacing this year!

I hope all is going well with your pregnancy

beetlebug1

hi

i had a home birth 15 years ago

the only thing a bought was plastic sheeting from an iron mongers to wrap around the mattress.

i the put an old sheet on top

as for a birthing pool just use your bath until just before.

didn't need anything else

good luck with the birth it was the best decision i made to have number 3 at home much more relaxed

fluffnutter

theoldcynic wrote: »

Thanks fluffnutter your post did make me giggle! The 'dust' sheets are waterproof as they're made from polythene or so i've been told lol! i might have to check that out if anyone knows?

It was the midwife who suggested getting stuff to protect the furniture I assume she meant sofas or the bed depending on where I give birth. A friend of mine stood up after she gave birth at home and apparently the placenta pretty much "fell out" causing a bit of a mess lol!

Thanks for the maternity pads suggestion I didn't realise how large they were folded up in the packet.

Unless anyone knows of a good place/site for hiring a pool I didn't see much difference between hiring one and purchasing one?

Yes i will have to buy new towels just wondering if anyone knew of any towel sales going on? As you can imagine the costs of having a baby are stacking up atm and although we're managing and did account for it we've also had a huuuuge amount of bad luck with things going wrong and needing replacing this year!

I hope all is going well with your pregnancy

Thanks! You too.

The pads I've got from Boots are 90cm by 60cm. I think they'd be fine for your waters, but you'd need something a little more heavy duty for the actual delivery. They use the pads in hospital but they can hose down the entire bed afterwards, which is not something you can do with your bed at home.

If these sheets are waterproof they sound the way to go. I just thought you meant old sheets, like you use for decorating. I assume the midwife knows what she's talking about - she must have attended home births before.

The only home births I can help you with were both emergencies so there was very little preparation going on. If you want some advice about giving birth whilst wedged in the hall by the front door with your legs in the air, I can help with that. Absolutely ruined the carpet though.... She needed some dust sheets :rotfl:

theoldcynic

Thank you beetlebug1 your post is most encouraging.

Perhaps a bath is the way to go, I did wonder if the TENs was working how it would work with a pool lol!

Fortunately we did not give away our old bed sheets in the clear out so will have lots of those to hand!

fluffnutter

You can't use a TENs in water!

theoldcynic

Thanks fluffnutter, after thinking about it I may have just decided to have the baby in the living room then! We have laminate flooring and maybe I can put down a duvet on there covered in a waterproof sheet for comfort! Easier than cleaning mattresses and carpet lol!

Yes realised I can't use the TENs in the water lol! I'm sure the birth will be shocking enough!! :rotfl:

I needed a giggle today, thanks

Nicki

Good luck with the birth

I had all 3 of mine in hospital and 2 were sections, but if I'd had the normal delivery at home, I'd have been glad of waterproof dust sheets protecting furniture especially in the living room! There was a lot of "spatter" when she was born, and even though I delivered on the bed, a very large pool of blood on the floor underneath too.

When this was discussed on the pregnancy thread last time I was expecting, a lot of the girls were planning on using smart price shower curtains which were then only a pound or two, over old towels or bedding. I know you have given your old towels away but you could ask for some on free cycle maybe? Maybe also buy some heavy duty masking tape, so you could cover your wooden floor with newspapers, then tape down shower curtains so it was fully protected with no chance of anyone slipping?

For your bed, you could consider a waterproof mattress protector and old sheets? You can get double and king sized ones at different prices from snugnights online. They might be a bit more than you'd prefer to pay but cheaper than a new mattress by far! As your labour could be long, you might be glad to have the option to deliver or labour partly in your bed without having to worry about making a mess.

WestonDave

We got a tarpaulin from Wickes which was huge and covered the entire floor of the room we intended as the "birth room" - we used the spare room as it meant we could set it up and leave it although in fact DS2 arrived less than 12 hours after we'd set it all up. We then put some old sheets over it so it didn't feel like plastic to walk on.

A cheap shower curtain (£5 in Argos) under the sheets protects the mattress and then some old towels for mopping up. To be fair I cleared it all up afterwards whilst my wife got some rest and there wasn't that much - mostly because the midwives bring some hospital pads for you to be on for the actual birth.

Tens - if you hire one do check it actually works and doesn't have a loose connection. Let's just say one with an intermittent connection was worse than nothing and the language when it kept cutting in and out was probably not suitable pre watershed!

building_with_lego

The midwives will bring lots of inco pads so don't worry too much about it. We didn't have much for DD's birth as we laughingly assumed it would take ages (2hours 50minutes later here she was :rotfl:) but may I recommend that it's not the best idea to wear your brand new, pristine white bathrobe to labour in! For DS we had an old waterproof mattress cover which was slightly padded- brilliant! I also had a very old duvet on a plastic sheet on the floor as kneeling down was great for me in that labour.
If you buy cheap towels make sure they're pale so the midwives can better estimate your blood loss. You can always dye them very dark later on! (Or keep them for your next baby...)

Have a wonderful birth! I can't compare HB to hospital births but I know an awful lot of women who wish they'd had all their babies at home.