Homebirth and older children

[bumpandisaacsmum]

I am planning a homebirth for my 2nd DC. The midwife has been really supportive as is my DP.

I know that my 6yr old DS is going to want to be involved if he is around (i.e. not in school/bed) and would love for him to have the option to be an active participant e.g. to cut the cord (DP won't do this).

I am unsure though of how to introduce him to the idea of what happens at a birth.... he is able to take in quite a lot of information but want to make sure that the information is appropraite for him e.g. videos/books

Any ideas would be greatly recieved, Thanks x

My DD1 was at DD2's birth (she was 2yrs9mths at the time) and both DDs want to see this DC being born.

Hello baby is a brilliant book, graphic but not gory illustrations and presented in a factual way.

We also watch lots of birth videos as my main concern has always been that they'll be scared by the noise and there's a great range here, from very quiet to really screaming! I think the videos really helped DD1 to see a whole range of noises as a normal part of the hard work of birth.

I've also emphasised the 'hard work' rather than pain.

Hello Baby excellent read, definitely agree!

Also Water Baby is still very popular and invites plenty of discussion too.

Lots of involvement in inflating and checking the pool, cleaning the birthing stool, buying absorbant sheets, has also proved invaluable in (hopefully) briefing him to be ok with the whole birth experience. He's around for each midwife visit and is involved in checking BP and listening with the pinard etc! We've also watched a few birth DVDs too and we practice strange noises together, which is very entertaining (horse lips etc)!

I saw all of my brothers and sisters enter the world and just remember it taking longer than I could be bothered to give my exclusive and undevided attention to! We were usually given a new game to crack open, and out came special biscuits and other goodies to delight, and we treated the whole event as a bit of a special party really!

Ditto the "hard work" emphasis, not pain.

Good luck!