Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Homebirth - mess?

37 replies

NeverAloneNeverAgain · 26/01/2024 13:53

Didn't want to de rail things on another thread....if you've had a homebirth what do you do in regards to cleaning up? If you've hired a pool do you empty down plug/drain? Did you put anything down? What happens to the placenta - does the midwife take it? So many questions! I should stop mumsnet scrolling during nap times 🤣

OP posts:
MightyGoldBear · 26/01/2024 14:48

2 homebirths barely any mess. Midwives took placenta away. Liner for the pool we just emptied the water straight into the garden beds. I didn't even use the puppy pads or shower curtain on the floor we bought. I really didn't need any of the prep it wasn't messy at all. I'm sure it's films that have filled us with this idea that births can only be messy screaming gory histerical events!

mindutopia · 26/01/2024 15:41

It's not a mess if you pay attention to where you actually give birth. Me personally, I've not ever used a pool, but my understanding is they are relatively easy to drain with a hosepipe and submersible pump and then you just scoop out the liner (which would contain anything that didn't drain).

The placenta is handled same way as if you're in hospital. If you want to keep it for whatever reason, it's yours. Otherwise it's bagged up as bio waste and taken away by midwives, same as any other waste, like gauze, gloves, etc.

I've had two home births, first one I ended up actually giving birth in a totally different room on a different floor than planned, so everything to actually cover the floor was downstairs and I was upstairs, but at the time, no one thought to go get all the stuff and put it under me. So yes, was a bit messy, but a carpet cleaner (cream carpets!) and some Vanish and dh's persistence and you'd never know a baby was born in there (unless you took some luminol to it and then would probably look like a murder scene! 😂).

Second home birth, I stayed where I planned to birth, put a cheap argos shower liner over the floor and an old duvet and some blankets - think about what you'd do if you were having puppies - and it was fine. No mess, the midwives must have just rolled the whole bundle up, and I never saw it again. They took it away with everything else. 15 minutes later and you never would have known a baby had just been born there.

If you think of birthing in hospital, those rooms get turned around quite quickly for the next woman, so they scoop everything up just the same, but have to do extra sterilising because it's not a home environment. The hospital pools are actually more of a pain to clean as don't usually have a liner.

Wotchaz · 26/01/2024 15:43

The bit I’m worried about is immediately post-birth, I remember with my first 2 that as I was lying in the bed I kept on gushing until I was basically sitting in a puddle.
For those of you relaxing on the sofa post-birth while the cleanup happened, what were you lying on?!

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Waitingfordoggo · 26/01/2024 15:49

I sat on puppy pads afterwards @Wotchaz. I probably also had pants on by that point with one of those giant pads.

Poppins2016 · 26/01/2024 16:09

Wotchaz · 26/01/2024 15:43

The bit I’m worried about is immediately post-birth, I remember with my first 2 that as I was lying in the bed I kept on gushing until I was basically sitting in a puddle.
For those of you relaxing on the sofa post-birth while the cleanup happened, what were you lying on?!

I sat on a maternity mat on top of a big towel tucked over the top of a polythene dust sheet... but next time I'll be using a mattress protector (much less faff and less slippery - found this out via a combination of potty training and sick children).

Once underwear was back on and big maternity pad in place it was business as usual (think I sat on a precautionary maternity mat for a day or so, but quickly ascertained that it wasn't necessary in my case).

NewYearOldMe2024 · 26/01/2024 16:31

We bought some plastic sheets from the decorators shop on the furniture and used the pool lining as a pond liner once it had been emptied.

I remember having to buy a new hose because the one we already had in the garden wasn't clean enough. Used the hose for years afterwards.

Two of the best days of my life my home births were.

Waitingfordoggo · 26/01/2024 16:39

We had to buy a new hose too @NewYearOldMe2024!

Like you, my HB was one of the happiest days of my life. It was a wonderful experience and it’s something I still sometimes enjoy reliving, nearly 16 years on.

murasaki · 26/01/2024 16:44

Waitingfordoggo · 26/01/2024 16:39

We had to buy a new hose too @NewYearOldMe2024!

Like you, my HB was one of the happiest days of my life. It was a wonderful experience and it’s something I still sometimes enjoy reliving, nearly 16 years on.

I misread this as had to buy a new house, I didn't realise it was that messy!

OceanicBoundlessness · 26/01/2024 17:22

Any news confined to the pool. The midwives are very adept at minimising anything.
Placenta I just put in the freezer.

HareSong · 26/01/2024 17:31

No mess. I gave birth in the living room, leaning against the sofa. We’d put a waterproof mat on the floor (one of those old-fashioned wipeable table-cloths), with old towels on top. There were ‘puppy pads’ too, I think.

They had a cardboard pot thing for me to sit on to catch the placenta when it came (it took about 45 mins). Then they checked it was all there and asked if I wanted to keep it.

Then they sent me off to have a shower and I think everything was whisked away while I was upstairs. When I came down, there was no sign we’d had a baby born in that room! Well, except for the baby…

BillieJ · 26/01/2024 17:47

I put an old shower curtain under the sheet and had a couple of old towels to hand. After all was done, I had a quick shower, and by the time I headed back to bed, it had all been cleaned up, clean sheet on bed and a wash put on.

pasinphoebe · 26/01/2024 17:58

Baby born in bedroom, no pool .. no recollection at all of any mess, I had bought an old shower curtain and had an old towel but not sure what was used and whatever it was was all tidied and away or shoved in the wash by two lovely midwives while I got into bed and enjoyed newborn cuddles

New posts on this thread. Refresh page