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Childbirth

Share experiences and get support around labour, birth and recovery.

Homebirth advice

7 replies

Brox · 28/01/2018 11:13

Planning on a homebirth, which would be my first for my second pregnancy and whatevs to know if any mother’s out there have some advice. Tips for keeping the house clean. What food to stock up on? What to do with siblings? When to call the midwife? Birth pool or not? Bedroom or lounge?

There seems to be more you can control so I want to make the right choices first time.

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mindutopia · 28/01/2018 15:42

I'm planning my 2nd home birth for any day now. My first was born at home 5 years ago.

As for keeping the house clean, the midwives really won't care (as long as it's not truly a tip and unhygienic and unsafe). But we personally have a cleaner (nothing to do with birth, just we work too much and don't have the time), so she's kept on top of the deep cleaning and we've just spent a few weekends doing some tidying up and some DIY projects to stay on top of it. Even if you can't afford or don't want a regular cleaner, hiring someone to do a deep clean before baby will make such a difference, no matter where you birth. I'm on mat leave now and every morning I just do a quick pass through the house and sort out anything that's a mess. I particularly stay on top of the bedroom and bathrooms (I plan to birth in the bedroom). Just so if I was to go into labour that day, I've got everything in order in the morning.

I would have some snacks you can easily keep in the cupboard, especially things you want to eat, some biscuits for the midwives, plenty of tea and coffee. You'll probably be planning a few meals for after the birth anyway (this applies no matter where you birth), so get in a few days worth of food that can either go in the cupboard or be frozen. I have about a week's worth of freezer meals made and then plenty of snacks stored away (dried fruit, nuts, granola bars, biscuits, chocolate, etc.) plus I made several batches of lactation cookie dough that I've frozen. So we don't have to stress about going to the shops right away. I have coconut water (it's isotonic) and dates and a few energy gels for myself in labour, which is what I ate last time and it worked well.

Where you birth and if you want a pool is just a matter of personal preference. I had a pool the first time, but didn't like it and only got in for a few minutes. I'm not having one this time at all. It just has no appeal at all for me to birth in water. I was quite happy walking around last time using a TENS and that's what I plan to do this time. I'm planning to give birth in my bedroom, which I did last time too. There's no way I would have wanted to walk up the stairs after in order to lie down and our sofa isn't very comfortable, so I want to be close to the bed so I can climb in after.

The midwives will advise you about when to call them. Generally, once you're in labour it's good to let them know you are, even if you don't need them. It means they can plan ahead for what they'll do that day. So I'd call as soon as you're fairly sure labour is starting. Then it will take about an hour or 2 for them to actually come out to you from when you first call (unless you live next to the hospital, we're like 20 minutes away). So I would generally aim to call when you think you might need them in about 2 hours. With my first, they said to call for them when I was in established labour (contractions lasting 1 minute and 5 minutes apart). I actually called them then just to let them know I was in labour (my contractions started at about every 5 minutes from the start), which was around 4:30am. I called back about 6:30am when I actually thought I might need them soon (at 4:30 I was comfortable and just wanted to be by myself). The shift changed at 8:30am, so I asked them to wait and send the next shift. They actually arrived about 9:30. My daughter was born at 2pm. Depending on how you labour or how fast your first was, you might want them sooner or later though.

Brox · 29/01/2018 09:27

Apologies noticed the typo in the thread post and cannot edit - which I find annoying but then I know many have a grip about this with MN.

Thank you mindutopia for your detailed response. Very useful information especially about the birth pool which I also don’t think I’ll use and climbing the stairs after birth we have four flights of these in our house and after my first birth I could even clim one flight without pain so four would be impossible.

Regarding keeping the house clean, I was referring to the birth its self and afterbirth. Remember another post referring to decorating sheets on the bed with old duvet covers on top but wasn’t sure how comfortable that would be.

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Brox · 31/01/2018 13:37

Had booking appointment today; midwife was fantastic and very supportive of homebirth. We have ten midwifes in East Herts area and they are divided into five areas with two midwifes and some student midwifes attending each birth.

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inappropriateraspberry · 31/01/2018 23:35

I'm 36 weeks and planning a homebirth. Had an (unplanned) waterbirth in hospital for my 1st which was lovely, but have decided it's too much faff doing that at home! It's the thought of setting it all up before and having to dispose of the dirty water afterwards! My midwife has suggested some cheap shower curtains and old towels, and said they bring everything else and will dispose of it. I'm planning on giving birth in the spare room, I can get it all cleared out and ready, then I can move into my own clean bed with baby! I've stocked the freezer up a bit, but have a dh who can cook thank god!

sycamore54321 · 01/02/2018 02:43

I'm not at all a home birth fan so you may disregard my views as prejudiced but I think planning to be a flight of stairs (or more) away from where a paramedic team enter is reckless. Birth is risky and there are any number of complications where time is of the essence. I wouldn't take that risk of being a flight of stairs away from help - if you are bleeding out or have shoulder dyatocia, etc, getting you down a set of stairs (or four flights) is adding a needless complication and wasting precious time. Obviously in most cases, all will be just fine but you can't guarantee that.

Best wishes, I hope everything goes well.

Rhodielicious · 01/02/2018 02:56

I had carefully prepared the front room; ended up unintentionally giving birth in bed after midwife suggested I lie down! The (brand new) mattress survived though - get a waterproof cover.

I had decorating sheets with old bed sheets on top of sofa, which was fine. Plastic tablecloths (the thick wipe-down ones) are good for floors and you can put old towels on top.

I didn't have a birth pool as just didn't appeal, but I did spend time in our normal bath for pain relief.

Buy a range of snacks you are likely to fancy. I had healthy options like fruit and nuts but also multi pack of chocolate bars. Get loads, you'll have the rest in the days after birth.

I also had a range of podcasts and DVDs ready to help pass the time in early labour. In the end we went for a walk in the park and a coffee and cake which was a welcome distraction! So nice to know i only needed to walk home when ready and not worry about getting to hospital.

Good luck!

Brox · 01/02/2018 23:45

Thank you for the comment sycamore54321, it is worth considering especially when Rhodielicious reminds me how useful the bath is for relaxing in early labour. I could only be in the bath with my first in early labour, when I thought I could lie down and get a big of sleep my body thought it was a joke - or no joke because the pain - didn’t get that at all in the bath. Our bath is on the same four as our enterance hallway and reception rooms so perhaps worth preparing both the lounge and bedroom.

I was going to buy carpet film which decorators use to cover the brand new carpets, even considering a walkway cover from bathroom to bedroom / lounge or is that OTT.

Anyone tried a waterproof fitted sheet over sofa? Ours is oyster colour so will not be forgiving of blood stains.

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