Things I might need or want for a home water birth?

[flubdub]

I am currently in List Writing mode and am trying to start getting things together for what I might need when the time comes.
We have our birth pool, but as we got it for £20 on eBay (it was a demo pool, nobody has given birth in it) I am thinking about not buying a liner and just keeping it for the kids to play in in summer. We wont be selling it on. I may buy a water pump depending on how OH finds the clean up when we have a test run. I will buy a new hose and have bought a tap adapter and thermometer.
I am currently writing lists for;
What OH has to do when I go into labour (fill pool, ring my dad and midwife etc)
What I need to put in MY bag (so stuff is easy to grab, and incase I need to go into hosp so things like baby clothes, couple of nappies)
Things I need for the pool (hose etc)
And things I need for the birth (towels, shower curtains to lay on the floor, baby towel, things like that)

Is there anything you found you needed or just wanted during your birth? Things I may find handy or that my midwife may need? I may be over complicating this

 

[Guppy051708]

The things i needed most during my home water birth, besides the obvious (pool, HOT water, support network, etc) is lots and lots of towels. 12 was a good number for me. (I got in and out a lot and threw towels down and then would get cold so someone would hand me another, stuff like that). And a plastic bed sheet cover. I put it on UNDERNEATH the regular sheet on my bed. that way my bed was protected but i didn't have to feel uncomfortable on top of plastic. I was getting in and out of the pool (and shower) a lot, so it was def a good thing to have. Also you will want a large plastic sheet for underneath the pool and around where you will get out.

You may want to get a fishnet type thing (for someone to fish out the turds ).
A bowl or small trash can, in case you vomit (happens to me every time i get to 5CM).
A few wash cloths (sometimes you need a cool cloth on your forehead bc the water is so hot, which feels great but you get a bit sweaty).
Food/Drink (a huge water bottle is always nice)
Heating pad.
Lots of pillows (for your bed) but also, i really wish i would have had a waterproof pillow. It would have been nice to have it in the pool with me. However, u can attempt to use a regular pillow for that if you want. I did during my hospital water birth.
Yoga ball.
A few recieving blankets (they can dip one or two into the hot water-while you and baby are still in the pool) and then place it over you and baby to help keep everyone warm.
A Breast pump, if you have one. For some reason it was the ONLY thing that got my labor going AND staying on until the end. When i used it things sped up. When i didnt my labor all but stopped. You may not need it, but it was a nice option, especially bc nipple stimulation in other ways did not work for me.
Oh and the water needs to go your nipple line. Reason 1.) bc at the nipple line it can stimulate labor and 2.) it covers your bump and gives you the best relief

 

[sue_88]

Stalking

 

[mumandco]

Stalking too

 

[murmur]

I would definitely advise on getting a water pump - well OH would advise it! It made the whole clean up operation much easier.

I also bought a few packs of those cheap plastic decorators dust sheets to go on the floor. Also we bought a couple of packs of those 'dry night' sheets you put in a cot when toilet training a toddler to put on the sofa or bed afterwards. I put a couple on the bed towards my due date in case my waters went during the night as well.

 

[Anthrogirl]

Awesome thread! Lurking!

 

[MindUtopia]

I would say get more towels, bed mats, and shower curtains/waterproof covers than you think you need and anticipate you might want to move around more than you think you do now, so you'll want to have spares that can be laid out in another room as well if you want to go there. I thought I got enough because I was convinced I'd want to be in water in my lounge. Turns out I didn't! I ended up doing most of the serious labouring walking around my upstairs between the bathroom and bedroom and gave birth on my bedroom floor. Unfortunately for said bedroom floor, I'd only really gotten enough shower curtains/towels to cover the lounge floor! The midwives brought up as much as they could, but two of the three shower curtains were under the birth pool and they couldn't get them out, so I only had one for the floor/bed upstairs. So it got a bit messy! I would say just get double whatever you think you need for covering things.

Also, for me, food was really important. I drank coconut water (3 litres of it!), ate honey off a spoon, and ate dates all the way through my labour. I also used those electrolyte gels that you use in sports recovery (like Power Bar gel, etc.) since I really like them from when I run. The coconut water (lots of electrolytes) and the dates were the things that worked best for me. Think about what you think would be easy to digest and taste good for you. You might not want to eat anything, but if you do, you'll be glad you have it.

 

[NaturalMomma]

Something to put over the pool to keep it warm. Tarp, shower curtain, heavy blanket.
Fishnet to scoop any poo or large chuncks of whatever. Towels, all sizes (some for you, some for baby, some for your neck/forehead). Bendy straws for drinking. Pans in case your water starts to get cold you can dump boiling water into the pool. Pool thermometer to know how hot you've got it.

 

[Feronia]

I didn't buy too much and ended up being fine.

1.) I had a kiddie pool (one of those Intex fishy ones) and it worked out very well!
2.) Three shower curtains was enough (two for the ground by the pool and one to cover the pool when I wasn't in it), but I live in a 1-bedroom apartment so there isn't that much space anyway.
3.) I only used one towel and just grabbed it from our bathroom stash.
4.) I had a fish net, but we never used it (didn't poop, lol!)
5.) Three baby blankets and a nearby hat.
6.) For food, I had my husband make a lot of smoothies and kept a water bottle and a box of granola bars nearby
7.) I used a mixing bowl for the placenta (and I still use this bowl to bake -- I just don't tell anyone I delivered my placenta in it!)
8.) Lead-free hose and a sink adapter.

My midwife gave me a great tip for emptying the tub. If you live on the second storey or above, you can put the hose in the tub and drop the other end out the window into a bush or something. It'll drain most of the way that way and then you can use a bucket for the rest. My husband did this and it worked well. We're also saving our tub so that LO can use it as a pool when she gets older.

 

[Guppy051708]

My midwife gave me a great tip for emptying the tub. If you live on the second storey or above, you can put the hose in the tub and drop the other end out the window into a bush or something. It'll drain most of the way that way and then you can use a bucket for the rest. My husband did this and it worked well. We're also saving our tub so that LO can use it as a pool when she gets older.

Thats what we did! we didn't have to worry about the pump, the hose, the sink adapter, the pool and lid, etc bc the MWs had all of that, however, i remember when they were tearing things down afterwords, they put the hose into the pool and then out the window. it was in our bedroom on second floor and no big deal, especially since we have a swamp back there lol it worked super well even in the middle of winter!

 

[lynnikins]

our pump was invaulable getting the pool inflated and filled in the late evening was a big thing we had 2 waterproof mats ( one came with the pool one with the hire kit of pump/liner/hoses/sieve/thermometer) so i had one under the pool and the other on the floor/sofa ,

my biggest thing that i enjoyed having was an old duvet (which got chucked afterwards ) to have DH wrap around me and AJ once he was born as i ended up naked by that point and got cold it would have been invaluable coming out of the pool to have it to wrap into, we had waterproof bedmats/hospital mats that were handy for the actual birth DH put them on the floor behind me ( gave birth leaning on my ball ) and they made cleanup fairly easy for the ambulance crew to do, lots of towels were good though we didnt use too many in the end and scored a couple of really nice soft baby ones off the ambulance crew as well. Cause we planned MW's to be there and they werent we didnt have sissors or ties for the cord but the ambulance came equipped with those in their birthpack helpfully,
DO make sure you have plenty of extra hot water , we thought we could get our pool filled and hot but it got filled but wasnt hot enough and we ran out of time to heat more water, DH had all the pots on the stove with water lol.

dont forget your camera, and snacks though i just wandered into the kitchen and ate what i felt like , i had made lots of savory muffins in the week leading up to it so had some yummy stuff to eat.
MW's always appreciate a cup of tea and cookie im told, the ambulance drivers prefered soda at 3am lol

 

[Guppy051708]

As PP mentioned, hot water is key! We were told by the MWs to up the heat on our water temp. BC we had a LO, we had it set max to 120F. Around 36 weeks we turned it up to 160F (i think anyways). We we were also advised to try and use least amount of hot water as possible after 36 weeks, that way it didn't get used up. In the end we didn't have trouble with the hot water to fill a standard birthing pool but i think thats bc we have such a great hot water heater (the previous owners installed a brand new, top of the line one). We have a very small oil tank and that is how our hot water gets heated, though, so we had to make sure we had enough oil as well. It worked out fine but if we lived somewhere else it could have been a problem getting enough hot water. You'll def want to have large pots/pans available so that if you run out you can boil water and add it to the tub.

 

[Sam Pearson]

I think you sound organised. You really don't need much. The only other thing I'd want would be Clary Sage essential oil - it's a uterine tonic and I used it during transition when I was feeling overwhelmed with the pain of the contractions and it really took the edge off - to a manageable level.

 

[Feronia]

I think you sound organised. You really don't need much. The only other thing I'd want would be Clary Sage essential oil - it's a uterine tonic and I used it during transition when I was feeling overwhelmed with the pain of the contractions and it really took the edge off - to a manageable level.

Agreed! Clary sage oil was excellent during labour.

 

[Guppy051708]

I think you sound organised. You really don't need much. The only other thing I'd want would be Clary Sage essential oil - it's a uterine tonic and I used it during transition when I was feeling overwhelmed with the pain of the contractions and it really took the edge off - to a manageable level.

Agreed! Clary sage oil was excellent during labour.

never heard of this. Im interested. Where do you get it and what do you do with it?

 

[flubdub]

I think you sound organised. You really don't need much. The only other thing I'd want would be Clary Sage essential oil - it's a uterine tonic and I used it during transition when I was feeling overwhelmed with the pain of the contractions and it really took the edge off - to a manageable level.

Thanks for that. I did buy it when I was pregnant with #2, but only to try and get labour started. I never thought of using it during labour. What did you do with it? Put it in an oil burner? Or rub it on your tummy?

 

[YikesBaby]

In my experience, these are the essentials:

- tarp for under pool (esp. if you have carpet)
- TONS of towels in dark colours (they ended up on the floor, and got quickly used up every time I got in and out of the pool to pee, etc)
- waterproof mattress cover and dark sheets (was so essential, as my water broke in bed 20 mins into labour)
- blue incontinence pads from medical supply store (DH put these under me on the floor during early stages while pool was filling... as my waters continued to flow for ages)
- fish net (yes, you likely will have unmentionable pool floaters)
- gravol (quick-dissolve chewables - just in case)
- barf bowl (just in case)
- gatorade (the bottles with the mouth spout are handy... otherwise you will want bendy straws)
- garbage bags in two colours - clear for laundry and black for garbage
- small space heater (it's nice to get out of the pool to a warm room and esp. for when baby arrives)
- small lamps (so MW can see what's happening, and you can keep overhead lights off)
- new bucket - for removing some water from pool when you are in labour to warm it up
- lead free hose and adaptor
- incontinence pads and big black undies for post-partum bleeding - they worked great!!
- MUSIC!!

Tips:
- Turn up your hot water heater as soon as you go into labour
- Put a note on the door reminding folks to NOT lock the door
- Turn on the outside light as soon as you go into labour
- Get the pump to empty the pool - much simpler
- Test the adaptor/hose in advance (the one we had didn't work)
- Prominently post your birth plan, MW contact numbers, etc. where DH and/or anyone else who might need them can see them
- Rinse bloody sheets/towels with cold water before washing and they will be good as new!

Have a great birth!!!

 

[MrsK]

I'm a list-writer myself, so I love this post ;-) My midwife has a whole list of required supplies, so that helped me lots.. and then I've gathered a few tips and ideas here and there.

For during the birth:

-Big medical underpads.. these definitely got used lots after I gave birth and got out of the pool and was still bleeding/delivering the placenta.
-Paper towels
-Rubbing alcohol
-Bulb syringe
-Large trash bags
-Large freezer bags if you want to save your placenta
-Amniotest swab.. to check if your water broke or you just peed yourself ;-)
-Bendy straws
-Lots and lots of towels in different sizes, washcloths
-A plastic bowl
-Tissues and wet wipes

-I got a soft mat for under my knees when bending over the birth ball since we have wood floors everywhere
-Soft, relaxing background music
-Those rice heating pads to put on my back for pain relief
-Tennis balls for massaging back
-A candle to stare into--- helps me focus during contractions..

For water birth:
-Liner.. you may really want to consider it if you don't want to toss the pool, because cleaning poop out of the crevices wouldn't be much fun. Tossing the entire liner is really much easier...
-A large plastic tarp for underneath
-Drinking water hose
-Sink adapters
-Debris net
-Optional: small flashlights to put between the pool and liner, as a sort of soft, built-in lighting

In the kitchen:
-2 pots
-Strainer
-Bowl
-Water, juice, Emergen-C, Gatorade.. drinks like that
-Protein rich food for you and the midwives (yogurt, nuts, dried fruit, cheese, eggs, protein shake, etc)
-A freezer casserole for after
-Some yummy treats for the midwives (chocolate, brownies, cookies, tea, etc)


As for making the bed, we were told to first put on the sheets which we want to have AFTER the birth, over that put the plastic sheet, and then on top of that some old, dark sheets for during the birth. That way, you don't have to worry about your water breaking in bed before labor starts and once you're done laboring, the dirty sheets and plastic liner can simply be taken off, and voila-- the bed is all ready for you to cuddle into with your sweet baby



-Depends incontinence underwear... so nice not having to worry about blood leaking at night!
Peri bottle... this was a lifesaver the few days after because I tore badly and peeing huuurt
-Herbal afterbirth bath-- optional, obviously, but it was so nice to get into a warm herb bath an hour or so after the birth