what 'stuff' do i really need for home birth?

[frazzledfairy]

hello am booked in for a home birth and am 37 weeks tomorow so in theory it could happen any time from then!

what do we really need? (ie towels, bedding etc) and um... how messy was it?! have got visions of dp following me round with a groundsheetand not letting me walk on any carpeted area!

thanks in advance

I had a home birth and it was very messy, especially as I lost a lot of blood during and afterwards. my dd was born in a birthing pool, and the water went bright red with blood. When my husband emptied it afterwards, the pump went wrong and red water was splashed all over the wall paper. Get a matress protector! My matress still bares the stains.

Mine was very unmessy - hardly any blood loss. I gave birth in living room kneeling over the sofa - I think I had a plastic sheet over the carpet and a cheap duvet over the top of that. Threw the duvet away afterwards but really there was only a small area that was stained.

I GOT THOSE PLASTIC SHEETS YOU USE FOR DECORATING FROM HOMEBASE. LAID THOse down then laid old duvet covers I no longer wanted down and old towels. I then had a big stack of othre old towels and sheets I didn't want anymore.

I laboured in my bath and then like with DD1 had to be on dry land for final stage and be on all 4's, so got out, held onto side of bed and DD1 joined us for the final stage.

Becasue i layered the sheets and towels underneath me when one got really messy it could be removed leaving not such a mess underneath me and the plastic sheeting meant no soaking through and staining carpet. Good excuse to buy yourslef lots of new towels and use the old ones to line carpet.

The only stain I made was where I then got up to go and get bak in the bath with my new baby and a blood clot got the carpet on the way through but stain remover got that out.

Other than that, all you need to do us make sure you have teabags in large quantities and some arnica tablets and you're sorted.

Good luck, enjoy

A wonderful partner and excellent midwives are the 'things' you need most for a home birth. Don't feel disappointed if you end up going into hospital - and even though I had a home birth, it was hardly the 'earth mother' experience I had been anticipating.

okey doke! my next question is... did you 'prepare' the bed in advance or cover it when you knew you were in labour?

According to my friend (never done it myself) - a shower curtain.

If you're a camper then use a groundsheet!! We used it to cover sofa and floor then used old sheets to cover the groundsheet. Bunged sheets in the wash afterwards and lent them to a friend for her homebirth a few months later. However mine was another 'unmessy' affair. Midwife provided incontinence sheets for blood loss but we ended up using them as changing mats for the baby!
Other than that - small boxes of fruit juice for during the event and MASSES of food for afterwards.

Good luck hope it goes according to plan

I made my bed with clean bedding, covered this with several plastic sheets overlapping and well tucked in, old duvet and towels etc over the top. When all is over, easy to strip off and bin bag the messy sheets and left with fresh bedding without having to muck around with fitting duvet covers and pillow cases.
Be careful with plastic sheeting on floors etc - hot and sticky underfoot and can be slippy too. If you might labour on the floor, good idea to put a few cheap pillows/sleeping bag on the ground, cover with plastic and top with an old sheet etc to give a bit of padding - very hard on the knees when squatting on plastic on carpet!
I found I had no old duvet so bought a mega cheap one in Ikea for about £4 which did the job brilliantly and nicer than our old paint covered decorating sheets.
Also, if in and out of the bath, wandering from bathroom to bedroom, give a thought to your carpets in between...wish I had put old towels down in between. Sorry if tmi

I had 2 black bin bags full of old sheets, towels and the plastic sheeting, ready in my room and lay it all out in-between contractions with DPs help.

I can't overestimate the importance of straws for drinking water between the stronger contractions. It means your dh/p or mw can hold a glass of water up to your mouth and you can sip. During each one of my pregnancies I started obsessing about making sure we had lots of straws within easy reach.

Something which is easy to eat and releases enegry quickly. I liked Halva.

A bowl for the placena. We dug holes in the garden for ours and dh bought trees/bushes to plant on top of them. (They're thriving).

Dh was great. He put builders plastic sheeting all over the furniture and then washable throws and sheets over the top of those for asthetic and comfort reasons.

I really needed something which is a good height to lean on to take the weight off the contractions. This is slightly lower than an ordinary kitchen table but higher than a chair.

Good luck and enjoy.

Have some food and refreshments for the midwives to keep them in good spirits if they're in for a long haul.

just lots of towels especially ones you can just throw away if you want to.
Don't see the point in covering places up, as in my experience (3 home births) you never actually want to be where you think you will! My dh just thinks I am awkward
Didn't make much mess any of the times, and definitely no stains

Oooh Good Luck. I loved my home birth. Managed to get blood out of everything that got stained. Not too messy though.. The mw s are brilliant at mopping up, and those incontinence mats are BRILLIANT. Like tessasmum said they are brilliant out and about changing mats.

Sat backwards on the toilet for ages which was DEAD cumfy before I got in the bath. If water doesn't cover your bump, block the overflow with bluetack and lay towels down for the slops.

A Creme Egg is the first thing I ate when I had given birth. (The midwives too)

2 things we found we should have had when ds2 was born at home were a good light to allow the midwives to do their examinations and a clock. Our bedroom lighting was too subdued for the midwives to work easily and ds2 has no idea of the time he was born because our bedroom clock had stopped. A shower attachment in the bath was great because I spent a lot of time on all fours in the bath with dh showering my back.

And a bottle of champagne in the fridge

An old dressing gown for afterwards was really useful for me. And DH supplied a head torch (one of those strap on things walkers use) for the midwife to do my stitches afterwards, which she thought was great.

A computer so you can tell us all the good news asap

shimmy21 - I put a bottle of champagne in the fridge as soon as my waters broke however once DS was born all I wanted was hot chocolate

Having "prepared" the living room with plastic sheeting etc., early in labour I went for a bath and refused to move from the bathroom once I got out. Luckily it was huge so there was plenty of room for DH and the midwife, but keep your options open; a labouring woman is not a rational being!!!

Big sheet of plastic, an old sleeping bag (to kneel on) and several cheap towels.

Big comfy tshirt and knickers for afterwards and a cup of tea! LARGE pack of cheap sanitary towles - I bled sporadically for about 3 days. (I tore slightly)

Make sure you have everything for baby- including some cartons of formula just in case.

Ask your Gp how big they think the baby will be so you can get nappies in approximatly the right size.

I had a quick home birth so didn't need anything else, but i did find the nelsons homeopathic birth kit useful. It has strong arnica and other htings in, I used pulsatilla for my weepy fits.

Get a basket/drawer/cot ready wiht blankets for baby and put nappies, bottle (if using) sleepsuit and receiving blanket all in one place so once baby is here your partner can just get the whole 'welcome to the world' baby bag!

Strong painkillers for the aftermath

Has anyone mentioned a good lamp? Anglepoise if possible. Essential for repair work. one of the MWs had to hold a bedside lamp for me whilst the other stitched.

And have your hospital bag packed in case you haveto go in. This also means that the stuff you'll want for after the birth will be all together and easy to find.

Ooh good luck! It's fab being at home, I loved it so empowering.
I had a water birth so the mess was pretty much contained and DH cleand it out afterwards, which he stated was the grimmest job he's ever had to do, hahaha!
The mat's the midwives bring are excellent. An old bathrobe afterwards was useful, plenty of old towels, I used rescue remedy straight after the birth for the shaking, and arnica for bruising. Plenty of tea/coffee/biscuits etc all on a tray in the kitchen so m/w's can help themselves. I had a hospital bag packed just in case as soupdragon suggested.
Um, what else... ooh camera ready and camcorder for when they weighed him etc loads of loot for a cuppa afterwards.
We had plastic sheeting from B&Q that you can get for decorating laid on the floor, but didn't cover the furniture. I also found a birth ball essential for my birth.
It's wonderful not having to worry about the cleanliness of the bathroom, cos yo'll have cleaned it yourself!

I was told that if you buy the dust cover sheets in homebase buy the thin ones. The thick ones can get very slippy when wet.
You can make your bed up twice, plastic sheet, sheet, palstic sheet, sheet - that way it's really easy to remake the bed. It doesn'ty really matter though, my dh the midwife put clean sheets on the bed whilst I took a bath. Just make sure everything is to hand.

From about 37 weeks, I kept the baby clothes and bedding in a pillowcase inside the cot. That way they were all ready to use but not getting dusty.

You need loads of towels and some nice warm blankets. My ds got a bit cold after his birth. He was born in September and we put the heating on as soon as I went into labour.

Also some sliced bread for toast. Our midwives expected tea and toast. She did tidy the kitchen though this was a small price to pay.

I was told that if you buy the dust cover sheets in homebase buy the thin ones. The thick ones can get very slippy when wet.
You can make your bed up twice, plastic sheet, sheet, palstic sheet, sheet - that way it's really easy to remake the bed. It doesn'ty really matter though, my dh the midwife put clean sheets on the bed whilst I took a bath. Just make sure everything is to hand.

From about 37 weeks, I kept the baby clothes and bedding in a pillowcase inside the cot. That way they were all ready to use but not getting dusty.

You need loads of towels and some nice warm blankets. My ds got a bit cold after his birth. He was born in September and we put the heating on as soon as I went into labour.

Also some sliced bread for toast. Our midwives expected tea and toast. She did tidy the kitchen though this was a small price to pay.

packing hospital bag i felt was very important, so that i would still be in control if we had to move.

lucozade was great for keeping going.

i also bought baby fruit purees for me as my easy to eat food. used it after the birth to settle my stomach (and i took a paracetomol for the afterpains).

have fun! it's lovely.