Home Birth Help

[Frizzy1986]

Hi all,
I'm 25 weeks and starting to seriously consider home birth as an option. I have some silly questions though such as what room do you birth in? And what do I do about the dog and the 5 year old?
Id be looking at a water birth but feel our kitchen isn't very cosy feeling and feels quite cold so I'd rather the living room. Will that be a problem? How do they fill and empty a pool?
We also have a dog and a 5 year old and I'm concerned about how they will respond and how to handle it all.

Hi. I'm planning a homebirth too so can only tell you the plan - not what has actually worked! Best thing to do is talk it through with your midwife. I'm very lucky as I'm under one-to-one midwives who are set up for this.

All midwives carry a pool in their car so I haven't had to organise one- that might be your first thing to sort.

I'm planning on putting the pool in the living room. We've had to buy a new hose and tap adaptor (£10 from b&q and amazon) but these may be supplied if hiring a pool???

DH did a test run with the hose and it'll reach from bathroom or kitchen but adaptor is a better fit on bathroom tap so the hosepipe will come down the stairs.

Have been advised to put an old duvet under the pool to keep in heat - luckily had one in loft. I also got some really cheap plastic sheeting from Amazon. Only other thing I've heard advised is puppy training pads so might get some.

Midwife and DH will be setting up pool so I'm not even going to think about it! I haven't asked about emptying the pool but have been told a few times that the midwives will do it!

Oh and I've also been asked to provide a seive

I've washed about 5 oldish towels ready and have a towel for the baby.

I've packed hospital bags in case and put them in living room as lots of things (especially snacks) will be useful either in my living room or in hospital.

What would your planning be for the dog and 5 year old if you have to go into hospital - it may be that you want to go with the same plan even if you're at home. Or- dog can be kept in another room with someone available to let it out/feed it when needed. And I've seen videos of homebirths with little ones there taking it all in there stride. It would depend what you are comfortable with.

Very best of luck!

We hired a kit from barefoot birth pools. Set it up in the living room and ran the hose from the utility. It came with a sieve. And a pump to empty it.
My 3yo went to bed as normal and knew I was in labour. We transferred to hospital and a neighbour waited in the house with sleeping 3yo till in-laws arrived. The cat was uninterested in the whole event.

@Podemos if I need to go to hospital then the dog can stay home alone. My plan with the 5 year old would be to call the inlaws as soon as we knew labour was starting and they can be on standby.
If I was having a hospital birth we'd have to either drop her off at theirs or do a handover at the hospital anyway so a home birth might be an easier option.

I had a home birth a few days ago in a pool. We hired it and had it in the living room. Absolutely check how you’re going to fill it before you go into labour - I don’t know why on earth we didn’t do this but we couldn’t get the hose attached to the taps and in the end didn’t get it filled until the midwife arrived, who had obviously seen lots of pools before and was able to help. I’m not sure how exactly they did it because I was 8cm and starting to go a little crazy upstairs while they sorted it.
One thing the midwife suggested at our first home birth appointment was if at all possible don’t give birth in the bedroom because then that room can be left nice and clean and tidy and you can go there after the birth with the baby without having to worry about tidying up first.

Pack hospital bags anyway - I gave birth at home but due to heavy bleeding and potential 3rd degree tear was taken in an ambulance to hospital after the birth. (The midwives and paramedics were all fantastic and LO and DH came with me in the ambulance so it wasn’t as bad as it sounds.) Thankfully all was fine but we needed the bags. I’d also say just mentally prepare yourself for the possibility of going into hospital, I really consciously didn’t put too much weight on staying at home the whole time. (I guess similar to any birth, don’t put too much stress on sticking to any one plan).

I had two home births in a tiny flat. First time we put the pool up in the (tiny) spare room. Second time in the (also tiny) living room because by that point spare room was DD's bedroom. Second time my 2.5 year old was around and awake for the birth (not the plan! But I went into labour early hours of Sunday morning and baby arrived about 5 hrs later and we had no family nearby or friends good enough to call at 7am on a Sunday). We managed to distract with some chocolate and Peppa Pig on an iPod in her room while I gave birth and DH shuttled between the two of us, with a kindly mw keeping her distracted for the final bit when I needed DH to hold on to while I pushed. My point being, it all works out! Although I suppose you might want the dog out of the way..

Btw - you put the pool up, fill it, etc, not the midwives. We rented one. Easy to put up and fill (they come with a long extension hose, so you don't need to be that near a tap). DH is still somewhat traumatised by having to empty it post-birth (6 years later).

I didn't have a pool, wasn't interested. I mostly laboured in my bedroom. We put tarps and towels over the floor.
Moved to the bath in the last 45mins as I was struggling with a posterior labour and the water was amazing - I should have hired a pool! I gave birth in the drained bath (the water didn't stay clean and I was grossed out about my baby being born into it!)

My older children were looked after by their grandparents. I had hoped to labour at night while they slept and considered keeping them home/allowing them to stay. I ended up in on/off labour during the day and my gut told me that it would be best to not have them around. The grandparents picked them up, it was for the best as labour was much tougher than I had anticipated (4th baby, hardest labour!)

Talk it all through with your midwife team, trusting each other is important.

My homebirth was amazing, definitely an option worth considering imo.

What’s the transfer time, during rush hour traffic, to your nearest obstetric unit with an operating theatre, OP? Worst case scenario, with you having a massive intrapartum haemorrhage and/or severe fetal distress?
Everyone hopes for a normal delivery, but nobody has a crystal ball.
My second DD would have died without a paediatric crash team and a week in intensive care, despite a normal full term labour.

@Babdoc I think we are around 20-25 mins from the hospital. Obviously I'd expect less by blue lights. We had dd at a stand alone MLU which was a similar distance away from the hospital.
It is definitely something that plays on my mind. What if something happens? Am I being a bad parent, am I taking an unnecessary risk birthing at home?
I

I've had three homebirths. We had a blow up pool with our first and due to an extremely fast labour we didn't manage to get it set up and filled in time

For our second and third DC's births we hired a pool with a filter and heater and had it set up in the living room for a couple of weeks beforehand. It was blissful to get in and eat ice cream and watch telly in the evenings while heavily pregnant

Practically speaking, a long hose with a tap adapter from the kitchen to fill and an electric pump attached to the hose to empty.

With 2nd and 3rd we had family come over to be on hand for older children. DS1 slept through DD's birth, and was awake and present for DS2's birth aged 3 1/2 - he was fascinated! DD slept through. Having family on hand in the house also meant we were more comfortable leaving DC should we have had to transfer.

Old duvets and blankets underneath the tub are good for insulation and making it more comfy and shower curtains/plastic sheeting/tarpaulins etc to protect the carpet.

Statistically I believe, low risk second time mothers have better outcomes at home than in a hospital setting. Midwives can deal with "most" emergencies in the home.

Have you read Ina May Gaskin's Guide to Childbirth? I'd definitely recommend it if not.

Good luck!!

We used the wine sediment sieve to scoop out my wee turds. We've since become good friends with the midwives and they always decline red wine at dinners.

I've had 3 home births too. Water births for 2, no time to fill the pool for my most recent. Definitely have a trial run of filling in advance, I like to use a living space (lounge/dining room) so I can escape upstairs while it's being set up and escape again with my new bundle while it's being packed up.

My other top tip is to have plenty of towels, much more than you think you will need. You might end up getting in and out of the pool a few times and don't want to use a wet towel.

All of my children (ages 11, 7 & 4) were present at my most recent birth, they were amazing. They were fascinated and not at all concerned, it was so special for all of us.

Good luck!

There's a great little book called why homebirth matters, that gives research based evidence, mums quotes about how it was and practical tips too.

Would second reading the Ina May Gaskin book. Also the Positive Birth Company digitise hypno birthing pack.

We hired a pool. It’s up to you where you have it in your house but discuss with midwife. Need to consider space and if the hose pipe will reach from the tap. Hiring a pool will come with all you need - pumps, hose pipes etc. Our midwife helped fill ours - they’re v experienced!

Re. Child and dog. I guess plan for what you’d do in the event of a hospital birth. My toddler was meant to go to my mums but in the event was asleep upstairs!

Good luck OP. My home birth was wonderful. The hypno birthing helped me keep an open mind about if I’d need a transfer to hospital.

Hire pool, but yes you must do a trial run to make sure you know how to get it set up, how to attach to taps etc. We used birth pool in a box I think. Came with everything. Loved my birth pool!

Dd was 4 at the time, we call my mum at the start of my contractions and she went off there for a sleepover. Dog went into living room, we had the birth pool set up in the dining room.

I was really pleased with my homebirth. I was low risk, second labour, and had done my research. About a 30 min drive to hospital from my house but actually I felt it would be safer at home as I do labour extremely quickly and I thought there was actually a decent risk of getting stuck in traffic (city centre hospital) and delivering in the car!

When you are trying to decide where to put your pool, remember the midwives need to be able to move around and get to you - our midwife wanted to be able to access the front, side and back of the pool. Have attached a picture of our set up.

Thanks for all the replies. My active stage was very fast and it was only at that point that I was sure it was labour. Hoping I might recognise it better this time but tbh I'm not one for going to hospital until I'm sure I need to so I'd probably end up in the same boat, assuming that it's still too early to go in and then suddenly it'll all kick off.
I think our dining room would be good but it's quite cold feeling as its the one room in the house we've not actually sorted. Likely the living room would be the go to place as it feels nicer.
I've been looking at positive birth company and have been going through some of the course. Hoping that will be helpful as I do suffer with stress and anxiety

Bear in mind that you need to give the midwives time to get to you. I was told by my community midwife to call the maternity ward as soon as my contractions got going, and tell them very, shall we say emphatically, how quick my first labour was. This was to make sure they got the midwives moving straight away. It was about 40min between making the call and the first midwife arriving, and another 20-30 mins for the second midwife (the one with the gas and air!).

Good luck OP! I'm currently sat in my dining room in pretty much the exact spot my baby came into the world. That's pretty cool.

I planned to have my DS at home. I hired a barefoot pool and it was wonderful. So chilled out and calm. Our home birth team were so good. I unfortunately got stuck at 8 cms so went in to hospital (only 5mins for us) since I was exhausted after three days (!) But no regrets at all. I'll do it again for no 2. I elected for the pool to be in our dining room. The only drama was getting out onto the sofa for the midwife to check my dilation!

Pick the room you feel most comfortable in, think about what relaxes you in the evening eg low lights or a tv series/music you love and is familiar to you. Make sure you have lamps if your lighting is quite harsh so you don't feel like everyone is sitting round looking at you, relax and enjoy. Statistics for real real emergencies for women having subsequent babies after low risk pregnancies are extremely low and midwives are very capable of dealing with them, please try not to take too much notice of any scaremongers because this is a large forum and childbirth questions can bring out stories you just don't need to hear. I loved my hb, suggest lots of snacks, towels and puppy pads

Re. Lighting - I got a pack of led tea lights. They’re great - safe, quick and make great lighting. Plus they are so handy post baby for giving you a bit of light for night feeds / night nappy changes!

Oo some great tips. Ive given my husband a few bits to read so that he can have lots of info and see if it settles his opinion.
He's already said that it's my choice and he'll support me but I'd quite like him to understand why I'm swaying towards it.
I think I'll chat with the midwife in further detail at my 28 week appointment as I'm expecting to be signed off by the consultant then (had a tear first time) but hopefully my head might be a little clearer and i can look at getting a home visit booked.