Preparing For A Home Water Birth

This post is sponsored by Your Water Birth who is the company we got our AMAZING birth pool from. See end of post for exclusive discount. I'm one of those crazy people who got pregnant and said: "I want to have my baby at home". You can read more about my choice to ditch my OB and hire a midwife here. Since I had my daughter in the hospital I really wasn't sure what to expect as far as how much work it would be to set up and prepare for the actual birth. The process wasn't as overwhelming as I thought it might be. My midwives helped a ton with informing me and putting my mind at ease which made the process of getting equipped super easy. My doula was also amazing at recommending some things I wouldn't have thought of.

Supplies:

The birth center I used was set up with a company you order a birth kit from. This kit includes a mix of medical stuff they will use at the birth and postpartum care for momma. That pretty much took care of the bulk of what we needed to have on hand. Aside from the birth kit we also needed to have things like extra towels, random things for cleaning up, a hat for the baby, etc. We had most of everything we needed already in our house but it was just a matter of getting everything super organized and in one spot for the birth team. I put the birth kit contents and everything else they requested I had on hand inside a plastic container so it was easy for them to access. I made sure all the towels and swaddle blankets were out in plain sight ready to grab when needed.

Birth Pool Kit:

Your Water Birth has a few different pools to choose from on their site we used the 2018 Oasis Elite Water Birth Pool. They also just launched their 2019 pool which looks amazing also! The pool itself is deeper than a lot of other brands which was awesome for covering my belly this pool was also big enough for my husband to jump in with me. They sell different kits depending on what you need. We needed a pretty basic one with just the pool, liners, and the hose hookup for our shower head. But I think it's so awesome that they offer all kinds of other birth supplies too if you need more items. They offer a lot of the supplies that were in my birth kit which is awesome if your midwife doesn't have a place they are already set up with. They make it super easy to be prepared. I set our pool up around 37.5 weeks to test it to make sure it was all good to go. The pool size also fit our space perfectly. This pool is a great size for a smaller space, the oval shape makes it really easy to fit in a corner. I highly recommend this pool to any momma wanting to do a water birth, I would totally go with this pool again! Be sure to check them out if you are planning a home birth you can even use code: wearingmomjeans for a special discount.

Comfort Measures: A huge part of preparing for this birth at home was comfort measures the main one being that my space I'd be in felt not only cozy and safe but also had everything I would want. I made sure the room was prepped with things like my birthing ball, essential oils, snacks, etc. I really worked hard to create a special space you can see the full tour for 'Çreating a Cozy Birth Space' here.

Postpartum: I really had to focus on making sure was all prepped was all my postpartum supplies. At the hospital, if you are low on something you can ask a nurse and have it within a few minutes but at home that's not really a thing so, I really needed to stalk up! I stalked my bathroom with my peri bottle, adult diapers, pads, aloe, bottom spray, all the goodies for aftercare. Having everything out and organized made those first days way easier as I wasn't having to search for anything. I have all my favorite postpartum goodies here

Contact List: Having a baby at the hospital you kind of just show up and are like 'hey I'm about to have a baby' but with my home birth there were a few more moving pieces and I had a pretty large birth team so making sure I had a contact list - midwife, doula, photography, my family but making sure they all knew the address and info on guest parking etc. Also, I gave them a backup point of contact, in this case, it was my mom so that if I wasn't able to focus on texting or calling during contractions she could communicate with them. I also had to go over the midwife on-call line with Marcus to make sure he knew how to get in touch with my midwife if he needed to.

Plan B: Because birth is full of unknowns we did have to create an emergency plan in case something happened were I or the baby would need hospital care. I had to line up someone to be in charge of Mattie in case of this. I also had to prep a 'just in case bag' to take with me to the hospital so I had everything I would want. Though we thankfully we didn't need to transfer the packed bag was AWESOME for after the baby was born. I had all my comfy outfits and clean clothes for Marcus inside the suitcase so we didn't have to go looking through the closet. I totally lived out of the suitcase for a few days.

Mentally Preparing: Mentally prepping for a home birth is tough. It's hard to put everyone's opinions aside and just focus on what feels right for you. As much as I knew that my body was made this I still had my mini freak outs. Getting in the right mindset leading up to the birth and making sure you are not allowing those crazy far-fetched 'what ifs' to keep you up at night can feel like a full-time job. For me, I loved watching positive home birth videos I actually watched a lot of them with Mattie to prepare her for the birth.

If you have any questions surrounding home birth or my experience feel free to reach out! I'd be happy to chat more with you :) Drop me a line on Instagram @wearingmomjeans.

Your Water Birth has been so fabulous and extended a super awesome coupon to my readers as well you can use code: wearingmomjeans for a special discount.