Homebirth - what the frig is the shower curtain and bucket for?

[StarlightMaJesty]

Sorry but i'm very confused. Also about the lots of clean sheets .

I thought I knew quite a bit about birth.

shower curtain probably to put on floor or anything you want to cover, is cheapest and biggest waterproof cover type thing, you can get 'value' ones from supermarkets for £2.70 I think.

Bucket maybe to put wet/soiled things in? or to empty/fill water from a pool if you have one

Cover from what though?

Mw advised shower curtain/decorator polythene needed to cover sofa or bed for delivery of placenta. Also told me to get two buckets, one in case I need get out of pool to wee and can't make it to bathroom and second for if i am feeling sick. Bought all three in poundland just in case.

I'm not giving birth on a friggin shower curtain

Planning pool but stil....

shower curtain to put on the floor.... or tarpaulin type thingy

bucket for being sick, or for the placenta....

Planning to deliver placenta in pool too!

Well you could get a waterproof sheet but the curtain would be cheaper..

Why do you need a shower curtain on the floor?

Sorry, still not getting it.

My asda smart price shower curtain went over my couch with a sheet on top to allow me to get onto the couch after the birth without covering it in blood immediately after I got out the pool when I was snuggling with my baby.
My friends was put on the floor with sheet on top to avoid her carpet being covered in blood and things when she was delivering the baby.
The bucket is most likely for the placenta.

I've given birth twice before and no shower curtain or bucket featured when not at home.

Ah, just saw that you're planning a pool..the curtain could be put under the pool to protect from splashes?

I had shower curtain over the bed covered by a sheet so the matress didn't get ruined at my homebirth. Was rather un-planned so was the best thing we had. Didn't do a water-birth, but maybe bucket is for if mw needs to fish any 'floaty' bits out of the pool?

"I've given birth twice before and no shower curtain or bucket featured when not at home."

Yes, but birthing rooms tend to be wipe clean environments, while bedrooms/living rooms aren't. I've given birth once (not at home) and there was a lot of mess - blood, waters, poo etc etc. I was also sick twice. I would be covering my whole living room in plastic tbh.

Protect what? We have laminate floors.

Understand the bucket now. I guess planning for vomit or possibly wee (although I'd prob just go in the pool).

Won't placenta come ou of the pool clean?

You may need to get out of the pool and if so you want something waterproof between you, the several tons of blood and fluid in your uterus and your carpet and furniture! Buckets always come in handy too.

Oh. I guess I'm just not so bothered about the furniture and floor. Laminate and leather. Mattress is being replaced after the birth too. Nothing of value in my house.

i had a home birth with neither a shower curtain or a bucket. everything survived.

I had no shower curtain. DH found the bucket handy, I suspect the MWs lined it with a yellow biohazard bag and he put my sieved-out poo in it.

I didn't use it to wee in, I only got out to wee once and that was because the MWs wanted to test the urine for ketones.

If you haven't got shower curtain, don't feel you need to rush out for one. I had dust sheets next to the pool but that was to stop the (cream) carpet getting damp.

I wanted to give birth in the pool but after encountering a few problems, I had to get out. The plastic shower curtain covered the sofa, with a cheap duvet on top of it for comfort. I wanted to kneel/lie/sit and the blood/poo/vomit etc was contained. Sure you might not need/want it but it's a handy thing to have nearby just in case.

The bucket serves a LOT of functions and can contain many bodily fluids, excretions and debris. Before this it was useful for removing a couple of scoops of water quickly in order to add more hot water to the birth pool.

It would probably be easier for the midwives to estimate blood loss if it's all sort of scoopable from off the curtain than if it's meandering all over the floor - and laminate has cracks in it!

But I'm doing it all in a pool!

I used a bucket for throwing up in (but had the same one by my side throughout very sicky pregnancy, didn't buy it especially for the birth). A friend had a wee in hers as she couldn't make it to the bathroom (I was worried I'd need my bucket for this as we only have an upstairs loo but I didn't have any problems getting up the stairs before or after the birth).

DS1's birth didn't make any mess at all, DS2's was a total gore-fest, I wondered why you'd need a whole shower curtain (instead of just those little waterproof mats the MWs bring) until DS2's birth, then I understood!

Lol Queen!

I had a pph with no.1 but still didn't make that much mess,

However, with no.2, still no mess but a midwife checked in on me was literally covered head to toe in blood splats from another birth, so I guess it can be messy.

Starlight I was doing it all in the pool (that was the problem for poor DH!) but ended up transferring to hospital - even if you stay home you mightn't stay in the pool

You say you're going to do it all in a pool, but you just don't know what's going to happen or how you're going to feel.

You may get into the pool and decide that you hate it, and then give birth on the sofa. You could always buy a cheapy shower curtain just in case, or get something to make things a bit easier to clear up. You can throw away the curtain afterwards as well.