So You’re Planning a Home Birth…

If you ask us, we’d always choose to be at home even at the best of times - let alone when you’re going through something as life-changing as the birth of your baby. Plenty of pregnant people choose to have a home birth, and you, dear reader, might be one of them. If you’ve been planning a home birth, or you’re just nosy and want to know what goes on outside the maternity ward, we’ve got all the insider knowledge you’ll ever need. 

Little disclaimer: While we’re baby product pros, we’re not licensed midwives. If you’d like to have a home birth, make sure you discuss it with your midwife first. 

Benefits of a home birth

Aside from having your favourite biscuits on standby, there are lots of reasons why pregnant people choose to have a home birth. A few of the highlights are:

• You’ll probably be cared for by a midwife that you’re familiar with. The midwives that conduct home births are a part of the community team that you’ll no doubt already be very well acquainted with.

• If this isn’t your first bundle of joy, you’ll be able to stay at home with them (although you will likely still want someone else to be around to look after them - you don’t want a toddler demanding breadsticks while you’re crowning, and they would probably rather watch Bluey than the person they love most in the world wailing in a murky pool).

• Your birth partner can stay with you the entire time. You’ll have 24/7 access to hand squeezing, damp towel fetching and enthusiastic cheerleading.

• At home, you’re less likely to need interventions like an assisted birth or episiotomy.

How to prep your home for a home birth

There’s no need to bust out the hazmat suit just yet. You don’t need to do an industrial-level clean for your home birth. All you need to do is make sure you have lots of your joyful tipple of choice ready for all the celebrating you’re about to do. (And maybe some other essentials, but we’ll get into that in a second…)

The most important thing? It’s a big ask, but try not to panic (or panic buy!) You probably have everything you need already in your home. Here’s a few things we’d recommend you get together before the big day: 

• Things are likely to get stressful. Try to create a peaceful environment. Turn off the big light and get some candles or lamps involved. Put on some calming music. Keep it super chill. 

• Speaking of chill, make sure you’ve got a cool flannel, spray bottle or tiny fan. It’s about to get hot in here. (*Queue Hot in Herre by Nelly*) If you’ve got mermaid-esque hair, you might also want a hair tie or headband to keep it out of your face and off your neck.

• Make sure you’ve fully charged your phone (or camera, if you like to keep things old school,) to make sure you can record the miracle of childbirth. Alternatively, just keep it around for after, when everyone is wiped down and looking blissfully happy.

• Keep stocked up on your favourite snacks and drinks for you, your birth partner and, if you want to make sure you win the prize of loveliest birth-giver ever, your midwives. 

• You also might want something to be sick into close to hand. A bucket. Your least favourite mixing bowl. A small bin. A plant that’s on its way out, in a pinch. 

• All the practical bits: your birth plan and medical notes, your hospital bag and your antenatal notes are all must-haves.

And then after you’ve done all the hard work, you’ll likely need:

• A big, fluffy, warm towel. You’ll need it for snuggling up with your baby.

• The biggest pants you own. Not only are they super sexy (in the eternal words of Hugh Grant à la Bridget Jones’ Diary, “Hello mummy!”) but they’ll be the only thing you want to wear. 

• Sanitary or maternity pads - to be worn in said big pants. Pop them in the fridge to help with post-birth swelling.

• Nursing bras and breast pads. No matter whether you’re planning to breastfeed or not, you’ll need a few of these on hand. 

• A breezy, light baby blanket. The really warm fleecy ones can be a bit much when you’ve only been in the world for five seconds. First, everything’s really bright suddenly, and now I’m overheating too? No thanks.

• A little hat for your baby. Not that you haven’t just given birth to the cutest, most adorable baby in the recorded history of the world (we checked, and it’s confirmed: yours is definitely the cutest!) but a baby’s head is typically always a bit weird looking. A hat is the ideal thing for those Insta-perfect post-birth pics.