Moneysaving home birth essentials?!

clairehi

-Have plenty of tea, milk and biscuits in for the midwives. make sure your OH knows to offer them drinks! I had a special packet of choc biccies hidden for the MWs but OH forgot to offer them even a cuppa!

-Pack a "labour bag" of everything you will need so you/OH are not faffing around looking for stuff. if you do need to transfer to hospital this will be needed anyway.

-Have all your homebirth kit towels, shower curtains, Pampers bedmats packed inside a binbag again so they can be easily accessed. whatever needs binning afterwards can be chucked away in the binbag.

-if you have an iphone there is a contraction timer app - v handy

-we were told the MW would need a desklamp, we actually went out and bought one as we didnt have one. she didnt even use it in the end, just grabbed the nearest bedside lamp!!

-MW told us to have warm towels ready for baby, we forgot - but a hot water bottle would have been handy to wrap the towels around to warm them.

-Make sure your OH knows where everything is and what is in your birth plan

-dont forget afterwards that even though you are at home, you have just had a baby and need to rest. it is very easy to try and get back to normal too quickly when you can see all the usual jobs that need doing. one lady I know had an HB and still stayed in bed for a week, a much better idea!

Nicki

I think that the amount of mess varies from individual to individual though, and it's probably best to be prepared for the worst case scenario, rather than end up with a ruined bed, sofa or carpet.

I had a heavy bloody show from my waters going. This meant that I bled as heavily as on the heavy day of a period for about 13 hours. I had a sanitary towel and an incontinence mat under me, and these had to be changed every couple of hours. If I'd been trying for an active labour and giving birth at home, there would have been the potential for a lot of mess.

During delivery, there was a lot of spatter. I recall there was quite a bit of blood on the doctor's shirt front and sleeves, the bed was soaked and there was a large puddle of blood on the floor. This doesn't count the trail I left when I got up to shower later.

From recollection, it is normal to lose about a pint of blood giving birth (and more if you have even a small haemorrhage) and this will be mixed in with all the amniotic fluid which is usually about 2 pints. So that is 3 pints of red staining liquid which will be landing somewhere in your home during the process

WickedWitch123

Homebirths are amazing. I've had one child in hospital and one at home - there's no comparison.

I would echo what everyone else has said and just add that I bought my birthpool and then sold it two weeks later on ebay (all thoroughly cleaned with milton) so got some of my money back.

All the best for the birth.

WW

Savvy_Sue

Opening out a large thick cardboard box gives good floor protection: and it isn't slippery like a shower curtain. that was our MW's tip.

sassyblue

You've got me thinking about the mess.... l went to hospital to have mine and can't remember any mess at all but l guess there must have been??

Good luck OP. :T Let us know how you get on. xx

clairehi

Yes, I was told that HB = no mess, MWs will clear it all up but that was not quite my experience. The MWs did a great job, but DH did end up with several loads of washing and various spatters of blood to clean off the carpet and bathroom floor. bless him he did not complain!

thorsoak

When DiL had DGD at home, on the advice of the midwives, they went out and bought a baby paddling pool (the sort with the inflatable sides) - inflated it, lined it with old sheet/towels - and any mess was contained therein!

JC9297

Mine was an unplanned home birth, community midwife arrived to examine me, realised labour had accelerated and it was too late to go to hospital. So, quickly my partner put bin liners covered with old sheet on sitting room floor and grabbed some old towels and I gave birth kneeling on the floor leaning on the sofa. It was all over by the time the hastily summoned second midwife arrived. Whilst there was some 'mess' which was cleaned up quickly by the midwife it was only in a small area, certainly not spattered all over the furniture.

Th1984

We bought a second hand birthing pool (used) and thoroughly sterilised the pump/pipes etc using Milton and the bath. Set it all up (new liner from manufacturers on standby) and due to complications had to go in before we filled it.

sold it on eBay 2 weeks later for more than we paid for it and the liner!!

meritaten

why are you thinking of hiring a 'pool'? dont you have a bath in your house? you may not want to give birth there anyway - an hour or so of labour and you may want to move about - or move about and then give birth in the bath in some nice warm water (not water which is rapidly going cold in a birthing pool).
A water proof cover on the mattress and then an old sheet - if you fancy giving birth there. I wouldnt bother covering the Furniture etc - chances are that when your waters break you will be somewhere uncovered anyway!
I would invest in a waterproof mattress cover, the clothes etc you need for the baby and a nice comfy nighty for YOU to wear! In the old days midwives attending home births either brought a pack of essentials (sterile scissors, needles and thread etc and maternity pads and rescuss tubes) with them or left a pack at the mothers house.
Remarkably you need very little equipment for a home birth! your home does NOT need to be decked out like an operating surgery! your baby would like to be welcomed by a nice clean towel to be wrapped in and YOU will probably appreciate not having a soaked mattress (or carpet) - and the boiling water is for the cup of tea or coffee you will be dying for!
GOOD LUCK SWEETY! I am sure that like millions of women your experience of birth at home will be brilliant!