HOW MESSY IS HOMEBIRTH?- Do I need lots of towels and plastic sheets?

[farmgirls]

Due in 2-3 weeks.

Just wondering if anyone can tell me how messy fluids/blood, etc. a homebirth is so I know how many old towels and plastic sheeting I will need to hand? Is waterproof bedwetting type sheeting ok to lay on the floor? What did you use and how big an area did you cover of carpet?

What are the towels for - baby or mopping up blood in labour?

Planning on birthing in bedroom. Is it wise to put old bedlinen on too and is there much splatter likely on the walls?

Had a hospital birth last time and was so spaced on gas didn't remember a thing, let alone how messy!

Thanks!

We've got a tarpaulin for the floor (bought it with our birth pool) but have heard of people just using a cheap shower curtain. My midwife said they would bring big maternity absorbent pad things.

Midwife also suggested I have a few towels handy but that they were mainly for baby (she said to try and put them somewhere warm if possible).

I've also heard of people sewing an old duvet to a shower curtain so you have a waterproof backing but the duvet makes it comfy to kneel on etc.

Midwife also said to have a box or something handy for them to chuck rubbish in. They do most of the clearing up and said it's usually just left with a (single) load of washing to do.

My friend had a homebirth with hardly any mess, and she was my birth partner with my ds, my second dc. She and my midwife were lovely when I was in labour and I vey nearly decided on a last minute homebirth but I knew that with my dd I had bled a lot afterwards and I didn't want that to happen in my living room! Fwiw, they both said when ds was born that I had a lot of fluid and blood (nice eh) but that many women don't. My friend had a cheapy shower curtain and a few old sheets, and the midwife took most of it away afterwards.

I had ds2 at home. Not messy at all. I decided to have the birth in the lounge, as ther's lots of floor space for movement, birh ball, gas canisters, 2 midwives etc.

Our midwife told us to get a shower curtain (was the value on from Tesco), and they supplied the rest. On top of the shower curtain, they put loads of incontinance pads. My waters broke on it, and nothing got on the carpet.

They took everything away, as it needed to be incinerated.

HB was fab Good luck!

I ahd ds4 on teh carpet in the lounge, I had put down care mats as I had some handy anyway6.

There ws no mess that i remember which suggests that MW whisked it away sharpish as she was gone in an hour or so.

My two HBs have been virtually mess free. Just had inco pads dotted about with some plastic stuff the midwives brought over the sofa cushion I gave birth onto. Was very slippy and annoying but I think necessary as there obviously was some blood and fluid.

No mess at all here. A few towels/cushions were thrown out and the sofa cover washed (yuk!) and we were back to normal!

Well the house was anyway, 7 months on I still couldn't say the same about myself

No mess here. We had an old matress cover and the midwife brough inco pads.

The only evidence of the birth was the baby.

Just thinking, I suggest you get a waterproof matress cover for the bed. Lochia can be quite messsy. However you would have that problem if you gave birth in hospital as most people leave hospital shortly after giving birth.

no mess here either....

I was wearing an incontinence pad when my waters broke at they took all the waters!

midwifes tidied up everything

I did a Riven

Laid shower curtain and old red duvet cover on living room floor, went upstairs to escape the postman/try a bath, got into transition and couldn't go abck down, so had him in bedroom kneeling by bed. They tried to shove stuff under me but Iw as kneeling too low, so fair bit of waters/blood on carpet...it came off with a good scrub...everything got cleared up, well mostly, they left a nice needle on the carpet for ds1 to find luckily still in packet!!

I wish we hadn't moved now. I will never forget that carpet.

PMSL!! No way! How clever is that!

Position please for future reference

I can't beat that I'm afraid. Quite an achievement

I found the birth not too messy - quite containable.
I did leak onto the sofa about 3 hours later despite two maternity bricks in my knickers, so would advise some of the inco pads for sitting down on for the first few hours
My hbs were fab, best of luck with yours

We need more than we had - the midwives said in future they would bring double for twin births but it was an usual twin birth - one at home, one 7 hours later in hospital etc

Get a pool then any mess (if there is any - and there wasn't for me) is confined.

I dyed every towel i could lay my hands on a dark colour so they matched (OK i am sad) but were still not bright reed and awful afterwards

then needed noew AFAIK

Awfullots of tatty brown towels round this way...

I gave birth on the futon in the front room. I had a cheapo shower curtain over the mattress and then an old mattress protector over the top to make it comfy. I also had some inco pads from Boots (they sell them with the maternity pads/breast pads).

We never put the futon down so I was in a raised all fours position but clinging on to the back of the futon for support. I kept sitting on DD2's head as she came out so the doula and DH had to keep hauling me back up!

My waters broke on the toilet so there wasn't any real mess to clean up though the MW didn't realise as I was making a right racket in the cloakroom convinced everyone was 'expecting me to perform'. I think I may have been in transition .