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Childbirth

Share experiences and get support around labour, birth and recovery.

Original poster

Preparations for home birth

54 replies

hewlettsdaughter · 08/04/2004 13:27

Hi all, I am 38 weeks today and really need to get my act together re preparing for my planned home birth. I have had a home birth checklist from my community midwives, and I have looked at Angela Horn's Home Birth Reference Site but I am still not sure what to buy to cover the floor/sofa/wherever I end up when the baby is born. I have read that you can use groundsheets, shower curtains, even those waterproof tablecloths - can anyone particularly recommend anything?
I should add that my ds was born in an unplanned home birth and we made do with bin bags then. I would like to be a bit better prepared this time though!

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motherinferior · 08/04/2004 15:59

Oooh, just remembered my top tip. Find a hot water bottle. I spent about four out of the seven hours of my last labour sitting on the sofa against one. If I hadn't had a pool, I suppose I'd have given birth there, actually.

Blu · 08/04/2004 15:44

We put a tarpaulin down on the floor under the pool - a lightweight one form a local building-suppliers. The midwives brought loads of the unglamourously named 'inco-sheets' (as in incontinence) to put on sofa, bed etc. The midwives will do ALL the clearing up and getting you tucked up in bed - you shouldn't have to deal with mess. (unless like me you transfer to hospital at the last minute and then DP has to come home to a bombsite full of towels, and dripped waters all over the place.)

Curtains for all rooms - I was having contractions all over the house.

Food for mw's. Mine kept wanting to go home for dinner until my dp and bf force-fed has a M&S ready meal.

Original poster
hewlettsdaughter · 08/04/2004 15:05

My mw asked if we were going to take the sofas out of the room but when I said no, we hadn't thought to, she seemed quite happy. Am kind of imagining leaning against them, over cushions or whatever...

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Bozza · 08/04/2004 14:58

I had been thinking bedroom but am not sure. We have two quite small two-seater sofas so don't feel they're big enough to be much use. Might see what midwife thinks when she comes.

There is an article on that site that hd linked too which suggests buying some of that waterproof tablecloth stuff.

secur · 08/04/2004 14:50

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secur · 08/04/2004 14:46

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Original poster
hewlettsdaughter · 08/04/2004 14:45

I have seen oatmeal and lavender packs (that you can heat up in the microwave) in Culpeper's - may well get one of these.

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Original poster
hewlettsdaughter · 08/04/2004 14:43

I don't think that's cynical, Fennel. It's a reasonable precaution to take!
Secur, re 3rd stage, I was given syntometrin (or whatever it's called) last time and it was ok. May wait a little time this time to see if I can manage naturally, or I may just want to have the cord cut and the placenta out straightaway.

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motherinferior · 08/04/2004 14:42

I didn't even get round to that. Wurbled around in my early labour trying to find Big Pants in case I ended up having a C-section. Totally hopeless.

Fennel · 08/04/2004 14:38

Am cynical enough that my main preparation for my planned home birth (any day now) has been to pack my hospital bag ready for when it all goes wrong!

secur · 08/04/2004 14:38

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Original poster
hewlettsdaughter · 08/04/2004 14:34

Thanks musica. I had wondered about the bedroom but don't really want to be on the bed and there isn't much room otherwise (plus the bathroom is now downstairs). I have some old towels, it will definitely be worth getting some of those out. I do plan to pack a bag as even if I don't have to go into hospital at least everything will be in one place!
Have just rung local (independent) diy store and they have some tarpaulin type things that you can cover trailers, motorbikes etc with - sound like they might do the job...

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Original poster
hewlettsdaughter · 08/04/2004 14:30

Secur - hopefully you wouldn't have to clean up! The midwife and dh did all that for me last time. Although I am thinking of giving birth in the front room, I will definitely be using our new power shower while in labour (midwife told me it's good for directing onto your back if it's aching).

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musica · 08/04/2004 14:30

We just got some cheap plastic sheeting. One thing I treated myself to before the birth was some new towels so that we could use some old ones we had, and just bin them afterwards. And then have the luxury of nice new soft towels for afterwards. Depending on what position you are in to give birth, you might want some pillows or cushions handy - I was kneeling against the bed, and the mws put these against my legs to help stop me slipping, as the plastic can be slippery. It was really nice being able to just climb into bed afterwards - you might want to think about what you will do immediately after the birth, particularly if you need stitches - where you would like to be. What I mean is, if you want to get into bed after, you might think about having the birth in the bedroom so that you don't have to wander about the house too much. We also got a waterproof sheet for the bed, and put it on before I went into labour, so that if my waters went it wouldn't trash the mattress. Definitely have some lavendar available. Works a treat.

Good luck - I hope it goes really well. Has anyone mentioned that you should have a bag packed, just in case you need to transfer to hospital?

secur · 08/04/2004 14:24

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Original poster
hewlettsdaughter · 08/04/2004 14:21

I had ds in the bathroom - this is just what happened, it wasn't planned at all. This time, I am thinking the living room/lounge. We have just had an extension done, the new bathroom is downstairs (so not far from the front room) but is too small to actually give birth in.

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secur · 08/04/2004 14:19

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Original poster
hewlettsdaughter · 08/04/2004 14:14

I got a home birth box from the midwives on Tues - there does seem to be some plastic sheeting in it, although I thought I should get some myself too. Also, I hadn't been sure I would get a box in advance - there's not always enough of them to be left at people's houses in advance, I think.

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secur · 08/04/2004 14:11

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Original poster
hewlettsdaughter · 08/04/2004 14:06

Good advice, secur. How are your preparations going? (how close are you to 40 weeks?)

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secur · 08/04/2004 14:03

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hewlettsdaughter · 08/04/2004 13:57

Ah, found this thread on arnica , thanks. I thought I remembered that there had been a randomised trial that was unable to prove effectiveness - although have learned from the thread that the trial may not have used high enough doses.

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secur · 08/04/2004 13:49

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Original poster
hewlettsdaughter · 08/04/2004 13:45

Thanks for your replies. Had wondered about rescue remedy. Have never tried arnica - is there any evidence that it works?

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papillon · 08/04/2004 13:39

We just used the flimsy stuff and it was fine.

I really liked having a water bottle to suck on... and no glass to spill.

You might want some rescue remedy on hand in case u feel abit panicky.
Also I liked abit of honey - chocolate probably does the same - for the extra bit of energy boost at the end

Good Luck - hope all goes well

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