What birth supplies might I want to have on hand?

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Mango Mama had a list of items posted on her site when I first discovered the Internet. I've adapted it here in her honor.

BIRTH KIT ITEMS

It can be helpful to have these items on hand for birth

• Small bottle of almond, olive or other natural massage-type oil. (For lubrication of any body part, if desired)
• Underpaddings. Large plastic drop cloths, shower curtains or even trash bags to protect surfaces, covered in old towels, sheets or blankets that can be washed (or thrown away). Some women prefer disposable "chux" pads, they can be purchased in the adult diapering section of your local shop.
• A copy of the book Emergency Childbirth: A Manual by Dr.Gregory White
• Some people like to have a stethoscope
• A camera or video recorder (with film)
• A pen and paper to jot down times and anything of interest
• Foods, drinks, teas or tonics for the laboring mama and her support team
• Videos, toys, art supplies, puzzles, etc. for anxious siblings to discover

An "emergence" kit can be constructed with items that could be grabbed in a hurry or not at all.

After birth items:

• Warm towels, blankets, receiving blankets or robes. Some families put towels in a dryer, on a heater, folded around a warm heating pad or in a barely warm oven during labor so they'll be cozy after birth.
• A large pan, bowl or bucket for catching the placenta (those ice cream buckets work well).
• Maxi pads (cloth ones or even towels can work well)
• Arnica 30x for bruising or pain (mama and perhaps even baby)
• Pain reliever for after-pains (herbal tinctures, teas or commercial)
• Eldon card, vaccutainers and syringe for testing baby's cord blood (once baby is done with it)
• Calendula tincture, honey for tears or skid marks
• Diapers and baby clothes
• A tape measure
• A scale (if desired. Some families rig up fish scales with a baby blanket or towel and subtract the towel's weight, some subtract their weight from the reading on the bathroom scale while they hold their infant)
• Celebratory foods, drinks or items for baby's very first Birth-day party

Maka writes:

There are plenty of places to find homebirth supplies, if you decide you need them. There are quite a few websites (cascade, spirit-led, and ollie's to name a few). but you may find yourself not really needing any of that.

My birth supplies list was pretty short. The only thing I purchased that I didn't already have were more candles and incense (which are a constant staple in my home). These were great for getting me in the mood beforehand, but when labor started I never even thought about them.

I already owned some cloth "chux" pads...these can be purchased from one of the supply places I mentioned above, or from your local medical supply sometimes. I only ended up using one of these, as my water didn't break until less than 5 minutes before my baby was born. However, these pads are also wonderful for sleeping on when you might leak milk (better than waking up in a puddle that you can toss aside than one that has soaked into your bed!), for sleeping a naked baby on (or a very heavy wetter!), for sitting on postpartum instead of wearing a pad... I also sat on them almost constantly for about a month in mid-pregnancy when I had a horrible cough that had me peeing with every cough. LOL

Oh yeah, I also spent $1 on a set of mixing bowls at family dollar so I'd have a large bowl for puking in and/or catching the placenta in. I didn't puke and ended up being in the bathtub when the placenta delivered.

I bought 4 dozen plain, flat gerber birdseye diapers at walmart - $44. Wool yarn for soakers at $4 per ball (one ball makes a soaker and a half, newborn size).

I bought no clothes until after he was born.

We did a lotus birth, so there was no need for anything for the cord, but I probably wouldn't have clamped or tied anyway, just waited long enough that the umbilical vein would be closed and just cut without clamping/tying.

Had a water bottle at my side constantly. Bought film. Oh yeah, and a $5 fish scale at walmart, which I wouldn't bother with again, as I see no need to weigh my babies and actually weighing him created some problems for me later when I was sick and we were worried about my milk supply.

See? Most of that stuff is totally unnecessary :)

Silverhawke writes:

You can buy sterile cord clamps at midwifery supply sites, as well as scissors and a whole host of other items. All of them, while making some feel prepared, are (IMO) expensive and unnecessary. I was attending hospital births, so I was able on occasion to end up with the stray sterile gloves or cord clamp, but we used a brand new pair of sewing scissors, and sterile cord clamps from one of the hospitals I attended a birth at for our UC.

We tried to get the towels for the baby into the dryer, to heat up, but he came too fast and while they were warm, hadn't been in there long enough to be thoroughly sanitized by heat. He was fine.

I did find great use in the chux pads, which we picked up at Walgreens. I like the super absorbent deluxe kind, extra large and extra thick. Also, keeping some Depends on hand toward the end of the pregnancy helped with that worry of having your water break when out in public, and also if there is a concern about leaking fluid on carpet of furniture, wearing a depends pad, which holds a lot more fluid than regular menstrual pads do, beats waddling around with a towel between your legs. Just MY preference. I also used the Depends pads for post partum bleeding, as again they hold more and tend to be longer. You can get the Depends underpants, I have heard of lots of homebirthers using them for leaking fluid, as well as post partum.

The key is to find your own comfort zone. No one can decide for you what is right for you. There are a million different scenarios to what works in homebirth, and each one has to be custom designed by each family as it suits their needs.

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