Home birth for dummies

[hayz_baby]

I have found trying to get things sorted for home birth a little overwhelming so am coming to you ladies for help. Weather you just know what ur doing or have done it before I'm asking for a list of stuff you need/recommend what u need to do, what needs to be covered etc for a safe and happy home birth. So yet home birthing for dummies!
I'm from the uk and am planning a water birth but if u have tips that might benefit us or non water birth then please feel free to place as it might b handy for someone else!
Thanks!

 

[MindUtopia]

I had a home birth with my daughter (my first) in February. I didn't have a water birth, though I did use a birth pool briefly (actually didn't like it, so got out and gave birth on our bedroom floor).

Here is a great website with lots of info and they have an awesome Facebook group as well: https://homebirthersandhopefuls.com/

Things I can't recommend enough just in planning for a natural birth: some sort of hypnotherapy practice (I did natal hypnotherapy) and a TENS machine was great too. That's all I used.

They have a list of things you need on the website above, but honestly other than a pool if you plan to use one, some floor coverings (cheap shower curtains and cheap Argos towels worked for me), and something to eat and drink (dates, honey, glucose gel, porridge and then coconut water and just plain water were what I had), you honestly don't need all that much. Of course, you'll want all the normal things you have for a baby (clothes, nappies, etc.) and for yourself (maternity pads, breast pads, bed pads). You might also find that a clean bucket is helpful for regulating water in the pool. And then some snacks for your partner and the midwives (tea, biscuits, whatever else you have in the cupboard) might be nice, but they will always bring their own food as well so you don't need to provide them with a meal. You probably have other things around the house you already need, like a dressing gown or a torch if it's nighttime and they need to have a look at things without flipping the lights on. Oh, and it's never a bad idea to make sure you have some floor cleaner (Vanish worked for us), just in case someone forgets to put your floor covering under you, which is what happened to me!

But honestly, other than the pool, floor coverings, TENS, and snacks, I don't know that I really needed to stock up on much that I didn't already have around the house or wouldn't be able to run out and get later (like the Vanish). You really don't need as much as you think you might. The midwives will bring all the really important supplies. The rest is just about relaxing and enjoying your birth! It really is such a great experience!

 

[Rebaby]

I had a homebirth with my youngest son.

I bought my birth pool from ebay, and got a cheap shower curtain to lay on the floor underneath (to protect the carpet from sploshes when I was getting in and out)

We also put an old throw over the sofa in case I wanted to get out on to there, which turned out to be a v good idea as I never actually made it into the pool (things progressed quicker than I expected!) so I ended up giving birth on there.

I packed a back pack with all the usual "birth essentials" and left it in the corner of the living room just in case I needed to transfer, but it was also very handy as after the birth everything I needed (like knickers, nightie, nappy and clothes for baby etc) were all to hand and I had a "birth box" (a plastic tub) next to the bag which had bigger stuff for the birth in it, like a sieve for the birth pool, a towel and a blanket for baby and some snacks and juice cartons.

If all goes well with this pregnancy I'll be planning another homebirth but I don't think I'll bother with a pool this time so my main concern will be covering the sofa again and making sure I have my tens machine to hand!

Hope that helps and good luck!

 

[hayz_baby]

Can I ask how y would fill a pool up? Would the water need sterilising? If so how?

 

[Rebaby]

No it doesn't need to be sterile. We used a hosepipe (bought new for the occasion!) and connected it to our kitchen tap (bought an adapter from B&Q ) It does need to be kept at a fairly constant and reasonable temperature (can't remember off the top of my head what the exact temp they recommend is, I'm thinking it's body temperature so 37 degrees but someone correct me if I'm wrong? Your midwife will be able to confirm for you) We got a floating bath thermometer free with the pool so used that to check the temp although like I say, I never made it in there

 

[hayz_baby]

Does the birth pool not regulate the temperature? Sorry I know I probably sound stupid!
Is there any good reading material in regards to homebirth?
Also do the MW in the uk bring g&a to a homebirth? Have heard a few references of MW bringing this

 

[Rebaby]

The pool itself should hold the temperature pretty well but depending on how long you're in there labouring for before the birth the chances are you might need topping up with some hot water towards the end so that it's the correct temperature for baby to be born into.

Oh and yes your community midwives will be able to bring g&a with them

Have you been on https://www.homebirth.org.uk/ ? There was lots of good info on there when I was planning my homebirth.

And my OH read "Home birth for fathers" by Leah Hazard.

 

[hayz_baby]

Oh the water has to b a certain temp for baby to b born in... Thinkin about it, that makes sense I suppose I just never thought about it like that. What temp roughly should it be? X

 

[CatStorey]

Oh the water has to b a certain temp for baby to b born in... Thinkin about it, that makes sense I suppose I just never thought about it like that. What temp roughly should it be? X

I've not had a homebirth yet but hoping to in the next couple of weeks!

The water should be 37 degrees (body temp). I have bought a kiddies floating bath thermometer to use to keep an eye on the temp of the pool, although I think a lot of pool's do come with a thermometer already.
I will get hubby to bail some water out and add hot if it starts to drop, just to keep it at 37. Thats one of his jobs

xxx

 

[irish_cob]

The inflatable birth pools are just like fancier kids paddling pools, they don't have any mechanism to know what temperature the water is or alter it. They are much better than paddling pools because they have thick inflatable sides and floor so you can lean against them and over the side without the pool collapsing, and the sides are so thick they keep the temperature of the water pretty constant, if you're in labour a long time, it may need topping up with a bucket of hot water, but I was really surprised how warm the pool stayed.

You can run a bit of water with Milton down the hosepipe when you buy it before you use it to fill up the pool if you're concerned about sterility, but honestly it doesn't matter at all.

Yes the water temperature should be 37 degrees for birth so there's no sudden change in temperature for the baby. It won't matter if it's 36.8 or 37.2 or whatever but you don't want it at 35 or 40 degrees, you want it as near to 37 as you can manage it.

You can usually hire birth pools for 4-5 weeks around your due date which is cheaper than buying one, or look out on eBay and gumtree. You'll need a new liner for whichever one you get.