Can you tell me the practicalities of your home birth?

[Duckyneedsaclean]

I'm considering a home birth this time - have had previous deliveries at hospital/birth centre without intervention so think it'll be fine. I'm just wondering about the practicalities and wonder if anyone could help with their experience?

Did midwives leave G&A, delivery pack etc at your home beforehand?

I'd want a use a birth pool - what do you use to fill it? And empty it?

If the pool was downstairs and bedroom upstairs, where did you deal with 3rd stage?

Did you end up with blood all over the place, or did the midwives get pads etc down in time?

Did they hang around for ages afterwards?

Thanks!

Did midwives leave G&A, delivery pack etc at your home beforehand? midwives brought the gas with them each time but I think had left a mouthpiece with the delivery pack and delivery notes which they dropped off in advance. They also brought their own monitoring equipment/scales etc each time

I'd want a use a birth pool - what do you use to fill it? And empty it? we had the boiler and immersion heater going and then attached a hose to the kitchen tap and filled it that way. DH topped up with kettles. If it’s not up to temperature they won’t let you get in/deliver in it. Didn’t bother by the 3rd home birth. Previous two times DH was in charge of emptying, while I got on with snuggling a newborn!

If the pool was downstairs and bedroom upstairs, where did you deal with 3rd stage?
delivered the placenta wherever I delivered the baby (dining room/hallway) this happened to be downstairs, once all done, hobbled upstairs with pads between legs for a shower in my en-suite (midwife stood outside open door) before being tucked up in my bed with my baby

Did you end up with blood all over the place, or did the midwives get pads etc down in time? no blood anywhere, midwives had loads of pads which they moved around as I did. They took all waste with them in clinical waste bags when they left. I think there was a tiny spot on the hall carpet after DC2 (first home birth) and a midwife said to DH ‘have you got a baby wipe handy’ she got it out with that!

Loved my home births!

Did midwives leave G&A, delivery pack etc at your home beforehand? Once yes, once no, once left a pack but brought more on the day.

I'd want a use a birth pool - what do you use to fill it? And empty it? Hose pipe. And emptying pump - which is very useful for paddling pools as well.

If the pool was downstairs and bedroom upstairs, where did you deal with 3rd stage? in the pool, leading to a slightly hysterical me crawling around the pool trying to find it, pulling on the metres and metres of umblicial cord like it was a fishing line. Second time, on the floor next to the pool.

Did you end up with blood all over the place, or did the midwives get pads etc down in time? I had a tarpaulin and the MW provided inco pads. I grabbed a pillow to kneel on which didn't survive washing but no - no mess. Third HB was on our cream sofa

Did they hang around for ages afterwards Until they'd had a cup of tea, I'd had a shower, me and the baby had had a wee, the baby had had a feed, and they had done their paperwork.

Following as I'm having a home birth in 2/3 weeks! So excited for it

For mine, they left the delivery pack and gas at around 38weeks. They didn't bring the connectors until the time though. I gave birth in my bedroom (which was what I wanted) so the bed had been prepared by me beforehand with mattress protectors and cheap sheets. They took all that away with them as clinical waste... One helped me in the shower, the other cleared up and helped my mum remake the bed (she was my birth partner)

I had a specific home birth check at around 36-37 weeks to go over logistics. This was nearly 8 years ago, but all the midwives in team and an info pack about each HB with maps, logistics etc as well as health info (mine was on Army camp, so needed more planning than normal)

I had decided against birth pool as I was expecting my toddler to be around, with my mum caring for her. DH was away. But at last minute a neighbour took the toddler.

My attached neighbour didn't even realise I'd had the baby at home until a few days later.

Did midwives leave G&A, delivery pack etc at your home beforehand? No they didn’t leave anything beforehand just brought it on the night. We discussed getting a dose of meptid (like pethidine) prescribed time have in my fridge at home, but as my previous labour was reasonably short (7hrs from contraction to baby) we decided it wouldn’t be worth it as you really need it 4 hrs before delivery.

I'd want a use a birth pool - what do you use to fill it? And empty it? I bought a cheapo hose and the pool came with adapters for the tap. Make sure you test it in advance as our kitchen one didn’t fit so we used the utility room ones. Not something you want to find out at the time! Our boiler coped fine, although my husband announced to me it was full after about 6 inches of water, so make sure you give you partner good instructions! The midwives emptied it after and it came with a pump To do that.

If the pool was downstairs and bedroom upstairs, where did you deal with 3rd stage? in the pool

Did you end up with blood all over the place, or did the midwives get pads etc down in time? I had a tarp on the sofa and the midwives laid a trail of puppy pads for the walk over. I was super worried about ruining our brand new carpets but they were all fine.

Did they hang around for ages afterwards? so I ended up getting transferred to hospital after delivery. About 2 hrs post birth while relaxing on the sofa while everyone cleared up, I started fainting and being sick as my blood pressure was crashing. I wasn’t actively bleeding but my pool water had been dark red (I didn’t realise until afterward that’s most videos online have beautifully clear water!). I was cannulated at home and had a litre of fluids squeezed in before going in an ambulance for a blood transfusion. It wasnt as scary as it sounds and the mws were great, I was even discharged straight off labour ward and went home the same day. So all in all I’m glad they hung around for a few hours as my husband would not have handled that emergency well!

I would absolutely have a Homebirth again, despite all that.

Did midwives leave G&A, delivery pack etc at your home beforehand?
I was told to collect a "home birth box" from the birth centre, and keep it at home for the midwives to use when they got here. I don't think it had entonox in it, think they probably brought that with them (not that I used it, midwife only arrived in nick of time when it was too late for gas and air).

I'd want a use a birth pool - what do you use to fill it? And empty it?
I hired a birthing pool but sadly didn't get to use it (all happened too fast) but it came with a hose, the hire company asked what type of tap I have to make sure they sent the right one. No idea about emptying sorry

If the pool was downstairs and bedroom upstairs, where did you deal with 3rd stage?
I gave birth in my bathroom and moved to my bedroom next door. However, I had been planning to set up the pool in my living room and lie on the (covered) sofa afterwards. My bed was obviously bigger and more comfy and DH could snuggle up with me as well so it worked out better that way. If you had a big enough room downstairs, it could work well to put a mattress on the floor in the same room as the birthing pool.

Did you end up with blood all over the place, or did the midwives get pads etc down in time?
As I said, gave birth in bathroom, so all easy to clean - not that I cleaned up, the midwives did! They were very careful to lay out towels and incontinence pads to protect my bed and carpet, so there wasn't a lot of mess at all. We got a bit of blood on the sheets but but not much. I do have a waterproof mattress protector anyway so get one of those if you don't have one already - just in case of leaks or whatever.

Did they hang around for ages afterwards?
Not really, DD was born around 9am, then there's the third stage and I also had to have stitches (which they were able to do at home thankfully), they also cleaned up and then sat quietly downstairs doing paperwork (well not much paper, they had laptops I think ) just staying out of our way but on standby in case we needed them. I think they always have to stick around for a certain length of time after the birth and in my case they checked blood loss carefully and kept an eye on me for that (previous PPH). But all was fine and I think they left maybe 1ish? One of them came back later in the day to check on us again IIRC. I can't really remember can you tell

The birth itself was fast and intense and I didn't quite realise how far along I was until I felt the urge to push - so I'm very glad that I planned a home birth and wasn't trying to rush into hospital, which would have been very stressful indeed. As it is, the midwives did the rushing

Best of luck, hope all goes smoothly for you and you can be at home, as it's lovely if it works out

I hired my pool for 4 weeks, which was lovely as used it for relaxing in before hand, and the second time round my dh and dc1 used it a lot. It had a pump, heater and filter.

Third stage was on the floor afterwards. Midwife sorted all that, no blood and mess left. There was a tarpaulin down under the pool and surrounding area in my sitting room.

No G&a or home birth plan left before hand. I. Fact the first mid wife turned up with out something for the g&a. I didn't use it anyway

No birth pool used or wanted

I put down some bubble wrap and an old duvet. MW had disposable paper sheet things.
Everything from delivery onwards happened in the same room.

Afterwards I went for a bath. The m/w bagged everything up and left. Literally with us about 90 mins!

The midwives told me to keep some old towels and they got taken away as waste.

Did midwives leave G&A, delivery pack etc at your home beforehand?
My midwife did a home visit around 36-37 weeks and left the delivery pack. The G&A came with the second midwife and arrived about 30 minutes after I'd given birth (not her fault, it was quick!). I'd also arranged a dose of Pethadine from my GP just in case which I didn't need.

I'd want a use a birth pool - what do you use to fill it? And empty it?
I bought an inflatable birth pool with a cover that was in the kitchen. We tried it out a few weeks earlier then left it inflated for the last week so it was one less thing to do when I went into labour. My husband filled it with a hose and connector directly from the kitchen tap in early labour then covered it to retain the heat until I was ready to get in. In the end, I was only in the pool 25 minutes prior to birth (I left calling the midwife a bit too late) so the temperature was fine. For longer labours, you need a pool thermometer and to be able to top up with hot water.

It was emptied via the hose / pump directly into the outside drain.

If the pool was downstairs and bedroom upstairs, where did you deal with 3rd stage?
I had a physiological 3rd stage so the cord was clamped and the midwife used a bed pad as a nappy to keep the cord, clamps and any blood contained and helped me waddle upstairs. Not my most glamorous of moments!

Did you end up with blood all over the place, or did the midwives get pads etc down in time?
Absolutely no mess at all. I delivered in the pool so my waters broke there and any blood etc just went down the drain. I'd already bought a cheap shower curtain and fitted sheet so my bed was made up with a nice sheet, then a shower curtain then a cheap sheet on top. After the 3rd stage and I was stitched, I removed the top layers and had comfy bedding underneath. The midwives bagged up and removed everything else.

Did they hang around for ages afterwards?
My main midwife was there 2-2.5 hrs in total (including 40 minutes pre birth). The second midwife missed everything and was probably there less than an hour. My midwife called back 5-6 hours later at the end of her shift but that might have been because she lived nearby.

Top tip, buy a cheap sieve in case you need to fish anything out of the pool! Also, the midwife's underwater doppler didn't work so we provided her with a condom to put her regular doppler in to stop it getting wet!

Like a PP, I was transferred to hospital as I needed stitches, and had lost blood so couldn’t stand up by myself. It was quite soon after the birth and the mw were totally focused on me. Which was great for me, but when DH got home from being at the historical with me he had to clear everything up. Everything. So it depends on how it goes, I’d say.

We had issues filling up our pool but it was fine in the end, I gave birth on the bed. There were lots of towels, the midwives put them under me. We bought tarpaulin but didn't have time to get it on the bed. It really wasn't as messy as we expected.
They hung around for what seemed like AGES and asked some silly questions but I'd still rather have done it all at home.

I was expected to be quick (DS1 was 4 hr labour). So they deployed both midwives at once, one to the hospital to get the pack to bring, one came directly to me. Ultimately DS2 arrived while the direct midwife was still standing in the doorway in her coat 20 mins after we called them. She got DH to call an ambulance straight away, it wasn't needed but I think it was so resus kit was with us faster than the other midwife.

Obviously, no time to pour a glass of water,let alone fill a pool.

We also bought some really cheap shower curtains and whacked them on the bed. DS came with the waters, so all the mess was at once and pretty easy to clear up. (I say, I didn't do it, obvs )

Afterbirth took longer than the birth. So had G&A and both midwives were there for that.

Reckon they were out of there within an hour/90mins of birth and came back the next day.

Thanks everyone!

I desperately hate staying on a maternity ward with a newborn so that's my main driver. The thought of just getting into my own bed afterwards!

In fact we don't have any carpets so mess shouldn't be too much of an issue, although it sounds like it isn't usually anyway.

I would like a pool because I had one for my first two, but not my third. I found it much harder to get comfortable/relax without. But maybe the faff isn't worth it 🤔

I wanted to use a pool both times and never did get to use one!

My tip would be if you have space to inflate the pool in advance that would definitely help, then just fill it as soon as you get twinges.

My first I ended up transferring as baby wasn’t coming after 2 hrs pushing. My second was great and was nice to get to own bed, but the clean up next day wasn’t great! I’m currently in labour with my 3rd which isn’t progressing well, so I may end up in hospital again :(

For my first and second they delivered the gasses, meds and home birth kit. But this time we had to pick up the home birth kit ourselves, 3 huge boxes that have been getting in the way for 3 weeks 🤣

I bought my pool off eBay and got new liner, hose, tap adaptors etc. Used the adaptor on the kitchen tap. Had a bit of an issue getting an adaptor for our current tap, but managed to find one on eBay.
Emptied the pool using a water pump and hose.
No mess at all, I covered the sofa in a king size Waterproof bed sheet, also bought bed pads and dark towels. Third stage was on the sofa and seemed to take forever!

Midwives stayed for 2 hours, assessing baby and paperwork.

I really didn’t enjoy being on Mat ward either hence the homebirths.

Midwives have to stay for two hours after birth to check baby’s oxygen. It was lovely and calm after to be honest. We discussed odd baby names they’d heard over the years, drank tea and and ate toast. They left me tucked up on my sofa breastfeeding baby.
Best experience ever.

Hope the baby gets a move on and you can stay at home @Piper100! Good luck!

@Chipsahoy sounds perfect!

In my experiences -

Midwives didn’t leave anything at the house beforehand. I already had my final couple of antenatal appointments at home, maybe that was a way of checking there was a decent environment but they didn’t ask specifics about my plans. They didn’t bring gas and air for my first labour. They did for the others.

I didn’t have a pool and did everything near the bathroom so there was no real issue. Dealt with third stage on my bed once actually. There was quite a lot of mess to tidy up after my first birth, but I didn’t do any of it. Very little to do in subsequent deliveries, just fill a bin bag and run a towel wash. Marked the carpet with my first baby. Didn’t with the others. Didn’t mind the mark actually it weirdly made me smile. No one could tell what it was and it was an old carpet so didn’t really matter.Midwives were gone within 20 minutes of my first birth. The others stayed a little longer but the longest stayed less than an hour, so no they don’t hang around