How to Prepare for a Home Birth – Tips From a Home Birth Mom
From the moment I had my first baby, I have been a total home birth advocate. Although it’s not for everyone, there are so many wonderful benefits to having a baby in the comfort of your own home! I’ve now had four babies at home and have learned a thing or two along the way about how to successfully prepare for a home birth.
Here are some tips you may or may not have heard yet!
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Why Do a Home Birth?
There are so many reasons why I love giving birth at home. Here are just a few of the top ones!
1. The Comfort of Your Own Space
Every time someone tells me that a home birth sounds stressful, I can’t help thinking of the stress I think I’d feel having to get in the car during labor and spend the next hours in a sterile (or not so sterile) hospital room!
There’s nowhere I’d rather be than home pretty much ever, but especially during some of the most intense and meaningful hours of life. The comfort of your home is hard to beat in the hours before and after you meet your sweet new baby!
2. Less Medical Intervention
Natural birth at home is a very natural process where the body is allowed to do what it was made to do without intervention (think induction, epidural, continuous fetal monitoring, episiotomy, etc.).
For low-risk pregnancies, a planned home birth with a midwife team is a very safe way to have a baby and can actually allow you and your baby to avoid a lot of the health risks (both immediately and in the future) that come with different interventions.
3. Outstanding Care
The attention during labor as well as the prenatal care and postpartum care I’ve received from working with private midwives is completely unmatched! That’s not to say anything negative about the wonderful health professionals you’ll probably meet in a hospital birth. But by nature of the medical system, a hospital birth team just won’t be able to provide the same type of care you get during the home birth experience.
From multiple postpartum checks in the comfort of my home, to my midwife spending hours sitting with me during labor, to being able to text at all hours, to letting the older siblings listen to fetoscopes and “take” belly measurements, all of our midwives have gone above and beyond to give us the most amazing, personalized care!
Necessary Supplies for a Home Birth
Your midwife will most likely give you a list of supplies with essential items you should have on hand for your birth. Here’s a good home birth supply list you can check out as an example.
I’ve found that there were many items I did not use for each of my births, but it’s good to be prepared. Here are some specific items that I’ve found to be the most useful.
- Towels and wash cloths
- Extra bed sheets
- Baby blankets that can be stained
- Hydrogen peroxide
- Chux pads
- Maxi pads
- Stainless steel bowls
- Trash bags
- Olive oil
- Electrolyte drink and light snacks
- Birth ball (like an exercise ball – I’ve found these can be so supportive during labor!)
- Birth pool (If you plan to use a birth tub. You can also use a large bath tub if available!)
- Pain relief for afterpains, such as After Ease tincture, ibuprofen, or a heating pad
- Music
- Baby clothes
- Diapers
- Freezer meals
- Infant car seat
(In addition to these items, your midwife might have you order a home birth kit with additional necessary items such as gloves, alcohol prep pads, a peri bottle, etc.)
10 Tips for How to Prepare for a Home Birth
Here are some of the top tips that help me to feel ready for a home birth.
- Keep a Week-By-Week To-Do List
- Prepare Meals Ahead of Time
- Ask Questions
- Have a Plan for Your Older Children
- Keep Your Home Clean
- Think About What You’ll Want to Wear and Clothes for the Baby
- Be Willing to Be Flexible
- Have an Emergency Plan, But Don’t Overthink It
- Understand What the Contractions Are Doing
- Stay Busy in the Last Weeks of Pregnancy
1. Keep a Week-By-Week To-Do List
Whether you have a home birth or hospital birth, there’s plenty to do to get ready to have a new baby around! Keeping a week-by-week list of things to get done during the last couple months of pregnancy helps me to make sure everything is ready and to spread out the load so that I’m not cramming in the last couple of weeks before the due date.
Before my first home birth I had no idea how to expect life with a newborn to look! Planning for the birth and postpartum period has become easier and easier each time.
Here are some ideas of things I’ve had on my to-do list during the last weeks of pregnancy:
- Make baby blanket
- Sort baby clothes
- Shop for any needed baby items
- Set up crib
- Set up/install car seat
- Research any undecided birth decisions
- Make freezer meals
- Gather birth supplies
- Any changes for older kids (i.e. move to new car seat or bed, potty train, etc.)
Listing out your tasks as soon as you think of them and scheduling them for a specific week of pregnancy is a great way to make sure everything gets done! Do as many tasks as you can as soon as possible – life can get a little more tiring at the end of pregnancy!
2. Prepare Meals Ahead of Time
Having freezer meals prepared makes the postpartum weeks SO much easier, especially if you have other kids to care for, too. I’ve found that the easiest way to do this is to start doubling meals a few months before your due date.
(Of course, not every meal works well as a freezer meal! I usually have a goal to put one or two meals in the freezer per week for a couple of months beforehand.)
Don’t wait until the last couple of weeks to start freezing meals. Most meals can last for at least 6 months in the freezer, so there’s no reason not to start early!
Some of my favorite meals to freeze include lasagna, meatloaf, soups, and pot pie. You can also stock up on easy meals from the store like frozen premade burgers or meatballs.
I also love making other foods ahead of time, like bulk loaves of sourdough, large batches of granola, and muffin batter. Anything you can prepare before the baby arrives makes the newborn phase that much easier!
3. Ask Questions
It might be your first birth, but your midwife has done this probably hundreds of times! Don’t be afraid to ask any questions that arise as you go through your pregnancy and make your home birth plan.
Having a midwife you trust is so important for feeling relaxed and calm during your pregnancy and birth.
Keep a list of questions for your midwives on your phone throughout your pregnancy so that you don’t forget anything you want to ask during your appointments.
4. Have a Plan for Your Older Children
Have a plan and a backup plan for what your older children will do during the birth. Most of my births have been at night, and we’ve had babies just sleep through them (make sure you have a sound machine ready if necessary!).
Depending on your situation, have a plan for a daytime birth or nighttime birth, and think through what you would do in case of a hospital transfer, too.
5. Keep Your Home Clean
There’s nothing like not knowing when a baby is coming to help keep the house clean! Don’t over stress, but it’s a good idea to keep things tidy, clean bathrooms regularly, and get any big cleaning projects done before the big day.
No matter how much I clean in the weeks before birth, I always find 20 more things that need to be done during early labor!
6. Think About What You’ll Want to Wear and Clothes for the Baby
When real labor hits, you probably won’t want to be searching around for what you want to wear. Have a comfortable outfit and nursing bra ready so you don’t have to think about what to put on when contractions start.
In addition, make sure all of the baby’s clothing is gathered, washed, and folded. I like to have at least a newborn wardrobe and a 0-3 month wardrobe ready. Shopping for baby clothes in the first couple of months can be difficult, so prepare ahead of time!
On the other hand, you probably don’t need as many clothes as you think. It can get overwhelming! I find that I rotate about 5 outfits for my babies, although having a few more on hand can be helpful in case of lots of blowouts. In general, though, having less to manage can be a lot less stressful than having a dresser packed full of clothes.
(And speaking of blowouts, my homemade stain remover for baby clothes is something I always have on hand during the newborn stage. It’s magical!)
7. Be Willing to Be Flexible
During every birth, there have been a number of items I’ve prepared for and not used. For my first birth, we actually set up and started filling the birthing pool and then ended up not having enough time to use it!
Make your plan, but be willing to be flexible and go with the flow.
You might not need to use everything you bought. Your plan for your older kids might get skewed. You might not be able to have the water birth you planned for. Every birth is unique and so special! Enjoy it and try to relax! You’ll only get to have this experience a few times (if that) in your whole life!
8. Have an Emergency Plan, But Don’t Overthink It
Natural homebirth is generally a very safe option. Still, emergencies happen every once in awhile.
Some midwives suggest having a hospital bag packed just in case of a transfer. It’s also a good idea to be prepared by having an infant car seat installed, having gas in the car, and knowing which hospital you would go to in case of an emergency.
9. Understand What the Contractions Are Doing
It wasn’t until my third pregnancy that I started reading more about what’s actually happening during labor. Understanding what the contractions are doing made a big difference in pain management! It’s much easier to go through each one when you know what your body is doing and how to relax through them.
Susan McCutcheon’s book, Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way, was a big help to me in understanding labor better.
10. Stay Busy in the Last Weeks of Pregnancy
The last few weeks of pregnancy can feel long. I’ve found that making goals and having enjoyable projects makes it so much easier to wait! Start a quilt, organize spaces in your home, or make other goals that you’d like to accomplish before your baby comes. It can be a list of books to read, foods you want to make and freeze, or activities you want to do with your other kids.
And if your baby arrives and interrupts your goals, you still win!
What Are Your Thoughts on Home Birth?
Have you had a home birth? I’d love to know what you loved about it!
Considering a home birth? Feel free to ask any questions you have in the comments!
