General Homebirth Advice

Also 28 weeks, also planning a home birth, and also called Naomi 😂 following this to see what people say! X

@Naomi haha love this!

Around 10-12 clean and dry towels, a tens machine, a birth ball or peanut ball, shower curtains or some kind of tarpaulin to protect floors and soft furnishings (essential if you’re having a birth pool), you need to have an area with plugs and a flat surface that is readily available for the midwives in case they need to resuscitate baby, I would say have a couple of nice blankets in case you or baby get cold, have a birth bag packed in case you need to go to hospital, incontinence pads for your bed or sofa after birth, food and drink for during labour (my recommendations would be dried strawberries, jelly babies and lucozade), I would also make sure you’ve got supplies for tea and maybe some biscuits for the midwives, pin your birth preferences on the fridge too, speakers and a playlist of songs you might want to play, I would ask the midwives about lighting - they may need a torch or something if they need to do stitches afterwards…

@Harriet Rose thank you so much x

Heating (baby needs to be really warm after birth) and I’d have a big bowl or bucket just in case you feel sick. Can’t think of anything else! I would say definitely prepare to go to hospital just in case as you may find you need to transfer. Good luck!

I opted for a HB with my first, the team were amazing! The one thing they advised was lots of towels and a waterproof shower curtain to cover furniture (If you plan on laying on your sofa etc). They provided the pool and the Tens machine, I just had to buy the pads for the machine. I had absolutely no idea what to expect but I didn’t have to do anything, unfortunately little ones heart rate spiked in the pool and they wanted me to go to hospital (I was nowhere close to delivering yet). Everything was so calm and chilled, I didn’t feel an ounce of stress at all! We ended up having a hospital delivery but I would 10000% go back to the HB team for any future babies. I also work for the ambulance service and been a part of transporting women into hospital and never once have I encountered a stressful situation - they’re amazing!!x

Also if you are using a birth pool make sure you do a dry run first so you know how to use it and you know that your plugs will work with the attachments! I would allow about an hour and a half to fully assemble and fill the pool.

I am 34 weeks and expecting a second home birth! 🤞 If interested check out the podcast pregnancy and birth made easy. Theres podcasts on almost everything you can think of! In terms of birth they usually suggest shower curtains or some type of mattress protector, towels, 2 large bowls (for the placenta lol), birth pool if you plan to use one and a hose and hook up for your sink etc. Id pump the pool up ahead of time and have your pump handy. Think of the room you want most of the action to happen in. If you live in a 2 storey dont plan to be going up and down stairs unless thats really what you want. Ideally have everything in your living room, I used a roll away cot and delivered my son on that. It was easier having the pool in the living room with everything there and upstairs has carpet so best lol if you have any questions message me :) don’t forget your regular postpartum essentials adult diapers, peri bottle etc.

just want to say go for it!!!

My pregnancy was absolutely normal and healthy up until I was 7 cm dilated and his heart rate dropped to almost nothing because the cord around his neck, if I hadn't been at the hospital in a room next to the or he would have had permanent brain damage or died. There was absolutely no forseeing that before I went into labor so I would never have a home birth now.. they had me in the OR and him out in less than 30 seconds flat, and that's what saved his life. If I had been at home an ambulance wouldn't have gotten me to the hospital in time. Home births, there is always a huge risk not having a medical team and surgeon nearby. I don't care if it's a one in a million chance something goes wrong, my kids life is worth more than that.