Home Birthing: Equipment I Bought in Advance

[JenStar1976]

Hi Girls

For those planning to have your home births, just thought I'd share with you all the things I bought in advance:

• Birthing pool with inflating/emptying kit (came with a sieve too (!!!) thegoodbirth.co.uk)
• Round mirror (from B&Q, £5.99, about 8 inches in diameter, for midwife to be able to have a look at you without touching you whilst in the pool)
• Strong waterproof torch (B&Q, £8, for shining onto the mirror if it was dark)
• 3 x cheap shower curtains for the floor (from Tescos, £1.99 each)
• 1 x cheap washing up bowl (just in case I was sick!)
• Cheap towels & flannels (from Wilkinsons)

xx

 

[goddess25]

When I had Euan I was given a huge booklet from the midwifes about home births and what to buy this is what i was told. I still have it cos its a store that sell the home birth kits.

Classic Home Birth Kit
In your kit you will find:
15- Blue under pads
2- Plastic backed sheets
12- Maternity maxi Pads
2- Mesh panties
6- 4×4 gauze
1- Peri Bottle
1- Newborn baby hat
1-peroxide
2- Garbage Bags
1- Zip Lock Placenta Bag
1- Lap Sponges
1-Paper tape measure
Option to upgrade to Organic maxi’s also available

Deluxe Home Birth Kit
In your kit you will find:
15- Blue under pads
2- Mesh panties
2- Plastic backed sheets
12- Maternity maxi Pads
6- 4×4 gauze
1- Peri Bottle
1-lap sponges
1-Hydrogen Peroxide
1-Paper tape measure
1- Newborn baby hat
1- Garbage Bags
1- Zip Loc Placenta Bag $0
Plus:
2- Straws
3-Emergen-C
1-witch hazel
Bag Epsom Salts
Arnica
Lansinoh Nipple cream sample{Free}

not sure if its all needed but this is the kit that we were told to buy... i never had a hb 1st time around thankfully but want to do it this time. If you want to look at them the store website is:

https://www.mamagoddessbirthshop.com/

 

[MumOfPlenty]

I wasn't told to buy anything at all for my sons home birth.. He's 8 now though so I don't know if it's all changed..

All I did was make a birthing sheet for my bed, I used a shower curtain on the bottom then filled it up with layers and layers of newspapers for absorption then chucked n old single duvet on the top of it (for comfort) and sewed it all together..

The midwives laid down the sheets that they use on top of it too.. Then once I'd had him, they stuck all their bits into bags they brought with them and got rid.

The only thing we had to get rid of was the birthing sheet - and they gave us a rubbish bag to put it in! - it had hardly a speck of blood on it anyway which was nice. Was all very clean and professionally done, I think we sometimes forget just how prepared midwives are!

 

[Asher]

Hmm I've been wondering about just this subject! When I asked my MW last week, she said just get some plastic covering for the floor, some towels, and we'll do the rest! I have to say though, I do like to be prepared, and I wouldn't feel prepared only buying that, I like your list Jenstar1976! Sounds good!

 

[summer rain]

In the UK they have a bit kit with everything in; I was told not to open it as it needs to be sterile for the birth; it contains bed pads, single use scissors and a few other bits and bobs I can't remember now. They then bring the gas and air and any injections asked for or needed (ie syntometrine or pethidine though most midwives are NOT keen on it now) on the day I think. There were some scissors spare so they gave them to me and told me they are really good at cutting elastoplast! They just told me to get an old shower curtain and they were pretty disappointed when they saw I'd got a new one even though it was cheapo; I said I wouldn't give birth on the old one as it was pretty horrendous!

 

[matsuken]

Wow,


This is so great!!

Thanks for sharing this one.

 

[Rmar]

Goddess, what are mesh panties?

I'm thinking I can't repost it here due to copywrite so I'm not just to be on the safe side but Birthing From Within has a great homebirth checklist that goes through the categories in the birth room, for the mother, for the baby, food for birth companions and post partum meal and for cord care. Also, a list of what the midwives will bring with them so you don't have to worry about getting those.

 

[snagglepat]

I'd generally say you need very little at all. Some waterproof sheeting (like a cheap shower curtain or two), a few old sheets, a good pile of of old towels (charity shops or pound shops are great for the last two) and a cheap bucket or two (for pool filling/emptying and sick/poo/delivering the placenta into). Presumably you'll already be set up with baby clothes/nappies etc and a stash of maternity pads for the post birth bleeding. Puppy pads are just the same as the blue inco pads that the midwives provide and you can get them cheaply from various cheap homeware shops. They can be quite handy as you can just pop one under you whenever you sit/settle and don't have to worry so much about putting down plastic sheeting everywhere. When I gave birth I just had two of them under me and they caught almost everything. As I was on a laminate floor the minor overspill was quickly wiped up with a third and the floor was cleaned later. Easy peasy! I also put one under my bum for the first few nights post-birth so if I leaked blood through the night I wouldn't ruin our sheets.

You can enhance that as much as you want with extras but from my experience the clients who have bought the home birth kits have actually used very little from them. A good stash of easy to digest food and drinks you like, plus tea, coffee and biscuits for the midwives is worth having too. In the UK at least the midwives bring all the essentials for the birth - mine brought a torch and a special waterbirth mirror that was angled so she could get a good view regardless of what position I was in the pool. You just have to worry about your own comfort and that's your personal choice.

The only thing I would suggest if you're using a birth pool is to think where it will go in relation to a toilet. If the pool is going in your kitchen and your bathroom is up a flight of stairs and along a corridor you might want to get a potty or something to use instead. Otherwise, make sure you've got some kind of covering on the floor between the pool and toilet so that when you get out for a wee you don't drip water and possibly blood/amniotic fluid all over your carpet.

I can't wait to read some of the home birth stories we're going to create from this new forum section.

Gina. x

 

[JenStar1976]

Looks like things are done differently in different areas in the UK.

In the Mid-Essex Trust for my area the only pain relief you can have at home is Gas & Air (they bring 2 canisters with them). If you want pethidine, you would have to be transferred to a hospital as the Midwives are not happy to carry it with them and administer at home. They will carry and administer other injections (vitamin K, syntometrine).

I wasn't given any sort of kit either. I was given a list of everything that I was expected to supply (listed in the first post).

So it's worth checking with your midwife for your area before buying anything just in case you don't actually need to! x

 

[summer rain]

Hi

no in the UK they do bring all the medical equipment needed (although for a home birth not all mws may bring extra useful items such as a torch etc) those items you have been told to buy or get from around the house are optional. They should drop around the medical kit at 37 weeks though maybe in some areas they bring it at the time; I'd be surprised if NHS midwives were coming round with no medical equipment at all. Pethidine does generally have to be prescribed by a doctor these days; and its a class A drug so thats why midwives are not happy lugging it around with them. My mum had it at her home birth in the 80s but i don't know anyone else who has.

Sophie

 

[Pickles77]

I got a prescription for pethidine for my home birth last week. And it was a mission to get really. I really don't want to use it, but I'd rather have it just in case.
Anyway, I was told to have some plastic sheeting, some old towels, and a torch for mine. And some sort of heater in case its too cold for the baby, we have a fan heater. They bring everything else.