Home birth (not in water) - what do I need to buy?!

[BotBotticelli]

Am 34 weeks pregnant with ds2. Had a good, unassisted vaginal birth in hospital with ds1 so am now planning a home birth this time around.

Am not planning a water birth though - just have an instinctive feeling that being all wet will piss me off!

But so many of the videos/info online about home birth assumes you will use a pool.

What do you need to buy in advance if you're not using a pool?? Ie to protect your floor!

We have mostly wood floors downstairs so I was just thinking of buying loads of old towels from charity shops to tape to the floor and drape over the sofas. And I have DS1's old cot mattress (which will be binned afterwards) which I thought might be good for kneeling on to be nice and soft on my knees.

Would this do do you think??

Or do I need to buy some plastic sheeting to put down? Not keen on this idea in case it gets all slippy (waters went like a fire hydrant last time!).

Would some sort of absorbent bed mats work better taped to the floor do you think? (I notice Boots sells quite cheap packs of single bed mats which are super absorbent - aimed at bed wetters I think - which I thought might do the trick)...

Any tips welcome!

[Stinkersmum]

Yes, Tena sheets (other brands are, I'm sure, available) would be a good choice.

[Minisoksmakehardwork]

I had a shower curtain underneath an old duvet. Worked really well for me. Sopped up any wet without flooding the room or ruining the carpet. Although I honestly couldn't tell you how or when my waters broke.

[TheEmpressofBlandings]

We had cheap shower curtains under old duvets/cushions too (although I did have two waterbirths). Bed mats may be a bit small if you want to roam around a bit.
The midwives will bring inco pads as well, I delivered the placenta on these.

[Charleymouse]

Biscuits and bread & butter for toast and a cuppa after.
Always a nice idea to check on midwifes favourite biscuit as well so you have them in stock.

MW brought bed mats but I have had 2 HB and had no mess at all, used a few towels when waters went on second one but also have wooden floors and leather sofa so wipe clean easily.

I threw away the decorator mats from B&Q that I had bought and the cheapo shower curtain as they had not been used. Just have a few towels to hand and maybe some wet-wipes for you as loo roll a bit dry and they wipe up anything.

[Gunpowder]

Midwives told me to get a couple of shower curtains from £ shop but didn't use these. Used loads of old towels though, prob 6 or 7? more than I thought we'd need. The midwives bought inco pads and I had a pack of the boots maternity mats which are similar and were good for the beginning of labour when my waters broke before the MWs arrived. And the tena lady pants were good for post birth bleeding and saved my sheets.

I thought water would really annoy me too, (hated being in the bath for DD1) but the midwives persuaded us to borrow their pool just in case. Couldn't imagine anything worse for contractions, but got in for 2nd/3rd stage (10 mins each) and it was great for pushing, it felt like I had lots more control and I didn't tear. If you can borrow a pool don't necessarily rule it out!

[OhHolyFuck]

I bought a tarpaulin sheet (bit like this ) from ebay for about a fiver and then put towels on it but I had DS2 on the bed - the midwives will bring incontinence pads too and for that price its not a massive waste if you don't use it

Plenty of towels - you'll need them for covering/putting underneath where you are and for wrapping up baby afterwards

Snacks and drinks for you and midwives - remember straws if you're in an odd position or shaky and something high sugar (flap jacks are great) if you need a boost straight after (I did)

[DayLillie]

I know this is no help but:
In 1970, when DM was expecting DB, we had to buy a nice new nail brush for the midwife to use.

It is the only thing I can remember.

Otherwise DS and DB appeared by magic, and there was no mess.

[Roseybee10]

I had a water birth but there was no mess in the water and that was the only bit of the labour and birth I had in the water.
My mw wouldn't let me have a shower curtain as she said it was too slippy. I ended up just using the bedmats for the couch for after the birth and loads of towels tbh.
I bought loads of tarp and never used it lol. There was no mess at all.

[Roseybee10]

Also to say I only ended up using the pool to birth in (things went quickly after my waters went and I never had enough time to use it for the lead up). I found it amazing for pushing. Took the pressure right off when pushing and only a small graze. Crowning was horrific with dd1 but I never got the ring of fire with dd2 at all.

[HollyJollyDillydolly]

I bought a tesco value shower curtain when I had my hbs.
My mw also wanted a towel and handwash just for her to use and a wall clock with a second hand.
I also used old towels and a sheet on top of the shower curtain to make it a but comfier. I did buy some huggies (I think) bed pads that were meant for potty training/bed wetting but the mw had plenty of those type of pads. I did use them afterwards though incase I leaked over the bed/sofa.

[HoundoftheBaskervilles]

Nothing! I had a homebirth be DD and bought precisely that, the midwives brought the large pads and that was enough, mess was minimal (I also hated the thought of faffing around in a pool so dismissed the idea of a water birth, DD was my second so I was confident that I wouldn't want it).

It was very straightforward.

[CrumpetandSausage]

My homebirth with dd2 was super quick so not enough time to fill birth pool. I had lots of towels ready and shower curtains. In end I used a potty training bed mat and maybe a couple of towels. Good luck. I'm sure it will be grand.

[HoundoftheBaskervilles]

Also wooden floors, think I knelt on the rug, can't really remember, I think the MWs popped pads under me as necessary, gave birth standing up and the obligatory turd landed on DH's foot!

Wrapped me & DD up in a blanket straight after I think.