What do I need?

[MissyMojo]

I'm hoping to have a home birth. Have just moved and haven't met my mw yet but the locum I had yesterday was saying how much the community mw love homebirth and I should go for it and that when I see my mw on 11th at 36w she'll go through it all with me. But I was just wondering what should I have in for a home birth?

 

[NaturalMomma]

I would ask your MW because some require you to have certain things, and others don't.

For my homebirth with ds2 I had a few extra towels, a birth pool, some chux pads. I had other things but didn't even touch them. That's really all I used. This time around I don't need anything because my MW brings it all. I'll have a baby blanket and some towels on hand and ready though.

 

[Sam Pearson]

I had:

- a birth pool (got it from Toys R US, blew it up by mouth - took 20 mins - emptied it with a bucket - took 10 minutes)
- some clean garden hosing
- a universal adapter from the hardware store to connect the garden hose to our kitchen tap.
- a plastic tarp under the pool to protect the carpet.
- A scoop for the pool
- a camera & video camera set up in the corner and left running.
- some snacks for everybody there and a sports water bottle for me.
- lots of towels (warming on the heater in my Winter birth)
- Clary Sage essential oil to use as a compress to take the edge of contractions.
- Lotus birth kit (strainer, bowl, absorbent cloths, salt, herbs, placenta bag)
- Activities to keep the older children occupied.
- a cake to celebrate the birth
- Clothes and nappies for the baby.
- A list of people to phone
-


We also had - that we didn't use - a pump to fill the pool, a slurpie to empty the pool and fish scales to weight the babies.

 

[xsadiex]

My midwife told me a list of things to get about a month before so they will probably be able to tell you x

 

[MissyMojo]

i dot see my mw til 36w and i had my son at 37w, so cutting it fine :/

i have dark towels, blankets, old duvet covers to protect floor/sofas + my hos bag is 95% packed just incase i go before 37w or need a transfer.

 

[fionar]

We also bought some poly from the hardware store to put on our bed under the set of old sheets we intended to use for the birth. They sell it near where the paint is, it's what a lot of people use as drop cloths and things. MUCH cheaper than buying a shower curtain liner or a waterproof mattress cover. I ended up giving birth in bed, so I was glad we had that to protect the mattress.

We also had several old towels, a big bowl for the placenta, a few washcloths, and good food and drink for me and my labor support people (we made cookies and some iced tea, for example).

Don't worry too much about having *everything* on hand. I found that some of the things we gathered didn't even get used (ice packs, hot packs, electrolyte drinks, and some other things I can't remember off the top of my head).

I also had a birth ball for labor and my midwife brought a birthing stool, but I didn't care to use either of them once contractions really got strong. The ball was a godsend for the first couple hours, though.

 

[madasa]

A couple of cheap shower curtains are useful, to protect your floor and furniture. Extra towels are a really good idea.

Most of it is fluff, to be honest. As long as you have a pelvis, you're good