So your mind is made up, you are going to have a home birth. Now what?
You may be feeling excited at this point. Maybe you’re a little nervous. You may be beginning to ask yourself questions about what your homebirth will be like? What will you need? How do you go about planning for your homebirth? What is essential to have and what is not?
And you know what…
This is a great point to be at! Starting to plan and prepare for your birth experience will be so helpful in making you feel more at ease walking into your birth.
And don’t get me wrong! Home births are and can be so simple, tranquil, and provide so much comfort being that you are in the comfort of your own home!
But it’s still important to plan and prepare like any other event we would plan for in our lives.
From personally experiencing my own home birth in 2018 and having the honor to assist other women at their home births as a doula. I believe I have a good idea of basic things that could be helpful to do to prepare and plan for your birth!
You are not in this alone momma!
Women have been birthing babies at home longer than birth has existed in hospitals, literally. And we are continuing to do it today, having beautiful, intimate experiences!
Here I have created a home birth guide, with the basics of everything you need to know to begin planning for your home birth!
Know Your WHY
Before you move forward with looking at birth supplies, calling around for midwives, and mapping out the logistics of this homebirth.
Take some time to ask yourself and become clear on your why. Your why to decide to have a homebirth.
Ask questions like:
Why do you want a homebirth?
What do you want for your birthing experience, that you feel a homebirth can give you?
What’s important for you to have with this birth experience?
There are multiple reasons why we as women choose to revert to birthing at home.Sometimes its because of a previous bad experience in the hospital, for comfortability, the privacy home birth offers, or overall just wanting a more natural experience at home.
And beyond any reasoning, innately this is the way birth was intended to be. Private, sacred, and in our space, eliminating all the extra distractions around us.
Whatever your why may be, hold it close to your heart as you move forward on this journey. Being clear on your why can keep you grounded in your decisions and helps with getting through fears, doubts that may come up for you.
When I found out I was pregnant, I knew, from that moment that I would be birthing my baby at home. My whys were…
- I wanted to feel a connection to my overall birthing experience, which I felt like I lost with my first two births.
- It was important for my birth space to feel intimate with only my loved ones around me and people I knew
- And last, I was determined to have labor where I had the freedom to move, squat, eat, shower, and do whatever I pleased as I managed my pain.
These 3 reasons are what lead me to listen to myself, my wants, and what I felt throughout my pregnancy and birth. Connecting with my Whys helped me find my voice and I believe it can help you do the same.
Preparing your mind and body
Birth is such a mind, body and soul experience. When birthing at home, you have the opportunity to avoid unwanted interventions that interrupt the natural labor process. You feel safe and secure being that you are in your own space, a familiar space. And you are surrounded by the people you, love and chose to be there.
An home birth allows you to fully surrender to the process, being that your environment is so flexible to birth, move and do as you please during labor.
Fully being able to listen to your body, silence the mind and allow the mind and body to become one can really make you stay so in tune with the changes happening in your body every step of the way. You begin to move out of pure intuition.
Preparing your mindset around birth and finding ways to physically prepare your body as well can be beneficial.
Mentally
Our minds play such a huge role in our birth as it unravels. When our minds are at ease during labor and birth, our body can fully surrender to the labor process and release the hormones needed to birth our babies.
Not only that but when we are not in our heads, and can just let go and allow our bodies to guide us, birth can really be magical and can be such an intuitive connection to yourself and baby.
Doing things to mentally prepare yourself for birth can help you feel confident walking into your birth.
Some things you could do are :
- Take a deeper look at the way you viewed birth.
- Normalizing what natural physiological birth looks like and can be like.
- Having the right support/community around you that supports your decision and affirms your birth
- Addressing any fears you have around birth.
- Becoming informed on birth and educating yourself.
- Finding ways to connect with your mind and body before birth to build that inner connection with self
- Meditation
- During your pregnancy, do things that bring you peace and joy
To read more on mentally preparing for your birth, check out my blog post, 6 ways to mentally prepare for your homebirth.
Physically
Our bodies were made to birth, yes that is true. But there are some ways that we can prepare our body for this transition that it is about to go through.
It’s like running a track without doing any stretches prior. Yes, your body can do it, but if you warm your body up first, it would most likely perform better running around that track!
It’s the same with birth.
Leading up to your home birth, finding ways to stay active, open your hips and take care of your body to help it prepare for the birthing process can help with your labor.
Some ways to prepare your body are:
- Feeding yourself nutritious, whole foods.
- Staying physically active like walking, light home exercises, yoga, hip-opening positions, dancing, etc.
- Going over and learn about the different comfort measures you can use during your laboring experience and begin practicing these moves before birth.
- Spending time in nature
Building your support team
Who is going to be your support during this experience? Who are the people that you could rely on to be by your side, supporting your decisions and honoring your birthing experience?
Having people around you who honor your vision, decisions and give you the comfortability to open up with them can be so nurturing during pregnancy and during birth.
There may be some people who have doubts and concerns about your overall decision to birth at home. You may have also had friends, family members tell you their own experiences at birth that may not necessarily be the positive affirming comments you need.
And that’s coo, everyone is entitled to their own opinion but it could be helpful to avoid this energy from entering your birthing space.
Negative comments, those who push their fears over you and your experience, and cannot be open to this experience with you is something to keep note of and decide if it would be best to have them at your birth.
When considering your birth support, keep in mind that whoever is supporting you should be :
- Someone that listens to you, your wants, desires, and concerns.
- Trust the process, your vision, your body, and your birthing process just like you do.
- Affirming you during the different stages of labor with positive words and creating a positive environment.
- Able to adapt to the birthing space through the many phases, changes, and needs that may come up, while staying calm.
- Is not scared or fearful of what natural birth looks like
- Willing to learn with you and educate themselves for your birth experience if need be
Choosing a midwife
When you are beginning to look for midwives, it’s helpful to keep your vision for your birth clear in mind to direct and guide you in choosing a midwife that will fit right into that vision.
Your midwife will be an important factor in your birthing experience and all midwives practice differently and have a different approach to how they support women.
Begin looking around locally for midwives near you and even if possible, ask around for referrals from women who have worked with a midwife personally.
Some basics around choosing a midwife:
- Don’t settle. Take your time looking for midwives and make the effort to interview 2 or 3 so you can have options after the interview process and decide which midwife resonated with you best.
- Ask Questions. Don’t be afraid to ask detailed questions upfront about the midwives practice, her beliefs, how she handles certain situations, her history as a midwife, etc. Make to make a list of questions and ask them all! This gets you the chance to get to know the midwife better and what to expect.
- Vibes don’t lie. If you find yourself interviewing a midwife and you two are just not clicking, she doesn’t sit right with you and something just feels off. Go with that, just imagine, if you feel off with someone outside your birth, just think of how that would feel during the intimate moments of birth.
- Express your vision and wants during your consultation. This will give the midwife a good idea of what kind of birth experience you want and how she can best serve you. It also gives you a chance to see what she has to say, how she reacts to your vision, and can be useful in your decision making.
Choosing to not have a midwife
Giving birth at home with no midwife present is called an unassisted birth, free birth, family birth. This is a route that some women choose, including me and it is very much an option.
If you choose not to have a midwife present, and you want it to just be you and family, well that eliminates interviewing midwives but you may want to expand your research in things that your midwife would have helped with.
Some things to look into would be :
- How to apply for a birth certificate / or live birth documentation in your state if you choose
- Becoming informed more on birth emergencies, how to identify them, and a plan around a situation like that
- Birth supplies/things you would want to get for the birth
- Knowing how to cut the cord and make plans for the placenta
- Plan to Gather babies weight, height, time of birth
- Become informed and aware of what signs to look for in newborns that may need further evaluation
Overall a free birth is such an intimate way to birth and allows you to birth completely undisturbed and simple. It’s important when making this decision, to take full responsibility for your decision to birth this way and take the steps to prepare yourself and educate yourself however that is needed.
If you would like to learn more about free birth, feel free to let me know down in the comments below what you are most interested about.
Preparing your birthing space
It could be fun and exciting to add to your experience by setting up your birthing space! I have been in some birthing spaces that have lights, a specific setup for where birth and labor will happen, and then on the other hand I have been to births where momma just kinda labors and births wherever she ends up at!
When I gave birth to my daughter at home, I honestly didn’t get a chance to set up a birthing space. We made my laboring and birthing spaces as my labor progressed and it was still a beautiful experience.
I started off laboring in the living room, during the transition stage I was in the bathroom and during pushing, I was on my hands and knees in our bedroom!
I say all that to say….
That’s the flexible and honestly simplistic part about homebirth, you go into labor and your labor in the comfort of your home, and birth where you birth.
But I will say if I was to ever give birth again ( Which I don’t plan to, we are done having our babies) but if, I would definitely spend time setting up a birth space and decorating to have a more birthy feel!
It definitely can set the mood, uplift the mood and make the space feel so tranquil.
Setting up your birthing space can include:
- Deciding on where in the house you want to labor at and birth at
- Setting that piece of the house up in your last couple of days being pregnant. For example, setting up the birthing pool, lights, birth affirmations on the wall, etc.
- Cleaning the house, the birthing space, and rearranging things
Some birth space ideas:
- Candles or LED candles
- Christmas lights to hang around the while adds dim lighting to the space
- Birth affirmation cards
- Inspiring pictures or art to serve as a focal point
- Birth ball
- Birth pool
- Speaker for music
- Diffuser with essential oils
Gathering your birth supplies
I have made a list of birth supplies/items that could be beneficial in your birthing space. Some of these things you may use, some of these things you may not and some of these things may make all the difference for you. Birth is unpredictable, knowing exactly what you will want and use for birth is unpredictable as well.
The Birth Items:
A big blanket/ Tarps/Shower curtain are to help keep things clean in the area you will be birthing at. If you land on this area for your birth, it makes it easier for clean up. Everything in the area can be scooped up and disposed, or moved to the side.
Towels. You can never have to many towels! They can help with cleaning water up, blood, on going leaking as you labor, wrapping your baby etc. Not only that but towels can also be used as comfort measures, prompting towels behind you, under your knees.
Face Towels can be used for warm sensation on your body during labor or for cooling during labor. Wetting a face towel with cold water and placing over forehead can be helpful when you get hot.
Trash Bags and chux pads are more mess precautions. As labors progresses or even in the beginning honestly you may be leaking fluids as baby moves more and more down. As you are moving around laboring, like on the couch, on chairs and different parts of the house, Chux pads are quick and easy to put down under neath you and be moved as needed.
Trash bag and gloves. Gloves could be nice to have for support around you, midwife, doula to throw on when helping with cleaning, helping out etc. Having trash bags for easier clean up.
Big Water bottle to staying hydrated during labor.
Coconut oil/ Grapeseed Oil are great to have on hand for massage.
A big bowl to place the placenta in after birth.
Comfort items:
Birth Balls can be helpful during labor because it helps with different positions such as leaning over the ball, hip rotation, opening the hips etc.
A speaker for playing music, birth affirmations etc. poetry etc.
Fans, any kind of fan really for when you get hot. Often times I will pack a mini hand fan in my bag and fan women towards the end of their pregnancy as they begin to get hot during transition stage.
Diffuser with Essential oils. Essential oils can be great, such as peppermint, lavender clary sage and lemon. These herbal oils have many properties that can be beneficial to uplift our mood during birth.
Quick ready to eat snacks to eat during labor to keep you going, filled with fiber, proteins and nutrients. Some ideas could be squeeze fruit pouches, these can usually be found in the produce section at the store and Clif Energy Bars. To read more on labor snacks, read my post 16 comfort measures for your home birth.
Night gown or robe. Something short and easy to lift up and labor in if you choose to wear anything.
Candles and hanging lights. These could be the LED light candles or real candles. Helps set the mood and bring calm soft lighting to the room. As well as fairy lights that can be hung on the wall.
Tennis ball. These are great for comfort measures. A tennis ball can be used by being rolled over you back if you have some back labor.
Birth pool. Could be a great labor station to help with pain, you also can birth your baby in the water. You can invest in an actual birth pool or find a ring kids pool at Walmart. Or you always have your bathtub! (Keep in mind if you choose to get a birth pool, this will add to your items such as finding water hoes, hose adapters, pool strainer etc. When you have a midwife, they usually take care of all these logistics, you just have to buy all the need supplies.)
If you would like to take this Birth Supplies to take with you as you been gathering different items for your birth, I have created a PDF with these items listed out in a check list.
Postpartum items
Onesies and diapers to put on baby after they are born. Onesies keep baby nice and warm.
Overnight Pads and big, comfort period undies! Big heavy duty pads for the after bleeding and comfortable underwear to keep pad in place. For example, The high waisted or brief Hanes underwear and getting them a little bigger than the normal size you wear to fit your post pregnancy body comfortable.
Peri bottle with witch hazel. Peri bottles are small, plastic spray bottles used to help rinse and cleanse your perineum after birth as you are healing. If you are sore after birth, trying some Witch hazel with warm water in a peri bottle to help sooth your vaginal area.
Epsom salt and Sitz herbs can be used with a peri bottle the same way or its great to just have on hand to put in your baths to help relax your body from after birth aches and pains. Sitz herbs are great for your baths as well. This is a mixture of nurturing, healing herbs and sea salt to help sooth sore perineums, minimize swelling and slow bleeding.
Perineal herbal sprays are similar to the two last remedies. Helps with perineal healing. But there are sprays you can buy already made such as Motherlove Sitz Bath Spray and Earth Mama Herbal Perineal Spray. These can be found at Target, Walmart, Walgreens.
Peroxide is great to have on hand, cleans blood right up off of places like the carpet, couch etc.
String or Umbilical Cord Clamp To clamp umbilical cord after birth and cut
Sterile Scissors to cut the umblical cord.
Tape Measure and Scale to measure babies height and weight. (When delivering with a midwife they will usually have these items and will handle all of this for you)
Thermometer is great to have on hand for yourself and baby after birth to keep an eye for fever.
Zip Loc freezer bags for storing and freezing placenta so it doesn’t go bad.
Breast milk pump and breast milk freezer bags so you are ready for when you milk come in ! Pumping the excess milk out can be relieving, prevent mastitis and be a way to start your milk stash. Having freezer bags ready on hand can save time and energy and one less thing you have to worry about during this time.
Nursing pads. As your milk begins to flow in and even after the first couple of weeks, you may have leaking and nursing pads can help with catching those leaks so your not walking around with wet stains on your shirt. But hey at the same time to each is own, on the other side of that if you are just nesting in the house who cares!
Bell Wrap have many benefits such as helps to increase blood flow, helps with posture, supports lower back and abdomen etc. There are all kinds of belly wraps put there, some that are more modern that you strap on and traditional wraps that are a long piece of cotton.
Herbal Tinture for after pains these are herbal oils such as cramp bark, yarrow, motherwort, red raspberry leaf and many many more herbs. These can be found online from midwifes, local midwives, local doulas, etc.
A lot of these things listed are optional and somethings may be more needed. Take your time reviewing and learning the things you would like and to make things little easier for you. I have created a FREE Birth Supply PDF checklist that you can download here and take with you!
What happens when labor begins?
As I’m sure you already know. One of the benefits of birthing at home is when labor begins, there is no packing a bag and no need to leave your house. The best thing you can do, it continues about your day until labor hits a point where you can’t ignore it anymore.
You may want to reach out to your midwife, doula, birth support that you plan to have present at your birth just to give them a heads up and continue updating them as your labor progresses.
A good rule that many doula’s and midwives tell women is a good time to contact them to join them is the 5-1-1 rule. This means
- Your contractions are lasting for 1 minute
- They are 5 minutes apart
- They have been in this consistent pattern for 1 hour
This gives the doula and midwife a good indicator of what level of labor you are in. From here, your midwife or doula may want to call and speak with you, ask a few questions to further determine how far you are and if they will be joining at this time.
Meanwhile, as labor begins, some things you can do are :
Rest up, take it easy. Labor is unpredictable. Meaning, you don’t know how long you will be laboring. While labor is in the beginning stages and not as intense save yourself energy.
Eat if you can. As labor progresses you may lose your appetite and may not what to eat. To help fuel your body and start to get yourself a good start, try to eat in early labor.
Practice and find your rhythm. Begin tuning into your movement, breath, and habits you form when a contraction comes in. Practice your different movements and focus on your breath. This will help you become familiar with a pattern to help with pain as labor progresses.
For additional resources on labor comfort measures, read the post below
16 comfort measures for your home birth
What happens after you give birth?
One of the best parts about giving birth at home is the fact that you get to rest in your bed after and just cuddle with your baby!
When you have a midwife, they will stay shortly after birth, about 2-4 hours to monitor you and baby, take vitals, chart, and start birth paperwork.
After that, they will leave and come back within 24 hours to check in with you and your family.
If you would like a newborn assessment done, immunizations, etc done, midwives will do this as well.
It’s so convenient to not have to leave anywhere, your midwife comes to you while you take your time bonding with your baby!
If you are giving birth without a midwife and would like your baby to have a check-up, researching pediatricians beforehand or knowing what pediatrician you would want to take your baby to could be helpful.
What to do with your placenta ?
After the birth of your baby, comes the birth of your placenta! The placenta will be observed to make sure all pieces of it are intact.
Midwives will dispose of the placenta if you would like not to keep it.
If you would like to keep the placenta, some things you could do with it are:
- Keep the placenta attached to the baby until the cord falls off, nourishing the placenta with herbs. This is called a Lotus Birth and has many benefits such as the baby having better blood flow, oxygen levels, nutrients from the cord, gentler transition.
- Consume your placenta. There are so many benefits of consuming your placenta like balancing your hormones after birth, increasing milk production, and helping you replenish yourself if you lost a lot of blood. You can do this in a few ways. You can eat it by cooking it or mixing it in with something. Encapsulate it. Or make it a tincture.
- Make art with it. This can be an outline of your placenta on paper and can be hung up or sometimes people spell words with the placenta cord.
- Barry it under a tree. This is one of my favorite ways and something I wish I could have done with my placenta. Simply find a tree and barring your placenta underneath that tree and over time you can watch this tree grow and flourish from your placenta!
- If all else fails. Maybe you aren’t sure what you want to do with your placenta, you can always just freeze it! This can be done by putting the placenta in a plastic freezer bag and putting it inside the plastic container. This way, when you are ready to use the placenta or decide on what you want to do with it, it’s still good and ready to go!
Resting period with baby
One thing that I look back on my homebirth and wish I did was, take those few days after my birth to rest.
Look having a natural physiological birth at home can have you feelin like you can do anything and everything!
And while I did take the few couples of days to rest, I was up and at it within a week. I took one run to the store and from that point in I was up and at it again like I didn’t just have a baby!
Resting and allowing that time to just be still can be helpful for our bodies as they heal, our minds as we transition into our motherhood journey.
Now with that being said, I will say that being a mom of two other young ones at that time, and my husband only getting 5 days off from work and having limited help. My resting period was definitely cut short not exactly by choice but dishes had to be done, homeschooling had to be continued. And it was actually refreshing getting out of the house with the kids I will say.
Had I prepared better though, the transition could have been a little more smoother for me as I took on being a momma to 3 little ones, which we will get into planning in just a minute!
So as I know it may not always be possible to rest for a 2 weeks, or a month but keep in mind to be gentle with yourself and rest up when you can.
Postpartum prepping
I know there is so much to plan before your actual birth, that postpartum can easily be forgotten about!
But preparing for your transition during this stage can make things a lot smoother in so many ways rather if this is your first baby or 3rd.
Some ways you can prepare for postpartum is :
- Planned meals -This could be pre made fridge meals, freezer meals, or even just having an overall plan for who will be helping and doing the cooking as you are resting.
- Extra hands – Help from family, friends discussed and set in place if possible to help with your normal house cleaning, taking care of other kids, etc. Just having some extra support around for at least the first couple of days allows you to rest up and nest with baby peaceful without having to worry about other things that must continue to get done.
- Warm, nutritious soups – Warm foods, staying warm in general after birth can be such good healing for the body. Foods filled with whole, nutritious ingredients to replenish your body.
- Nice warm bath – This can be beneficial by helping with healing, reduce any swelling, help with hemorrhoids and overall can just be so relaxing to your body during your early postpartum period.
- Hire a post partum doula. Postpartum doulas help with this early transition by performing light house keeping, helping with baby, watching your other kids, cooking etc.
You got this momma!
Everything you need to birth your baby is within! May these tips and resources add to your journey as you continue to inform yourself and enjoy this beautiful time as you carry and prepare for bringing in new life. Nurture yourself, stay true to yourself and stay grounded in your vision.
I have created an Intuitive Home birth Workbook that is helpful with mapping out your birth, and taking the time to sit and connect with yourself. Check it out down below and take care momma!
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