When I was pregnant with my second, I knew I wanted a home water birth, right from the start. With my first, I stood in a single person shower, with the hot water spilling over my contracting tummy and lower back, and ladies? It felt heavenly. I mean, the sense of relief and the ability to relax your body just slightly through those contractions were a godsend. I had a birth plan of no drugs, no intervention with my first. Knowing how much the warm water helped in a shower standing up, I figured being able to relax fully, immersed in water would be that more glorious. It was one of the most rewarding, powerful and most beautiful experiences I have ever had, giving birth at home, in water, but it is not a simple, let’s hop in the bath and have a baby. You need to be prepared! So here I share what you need in order to plan and be prepared for a perfect home water birth.
Firstly, find out if you are even eligible to give birth at home
If you are considered high risk, have had complications in the past or if this is your first baby, talk to your doctor or midwife. High-Risk patients usually are not able to give birth at home simply because, in the case of an emergency, you’ll want to already be at the hospital.
However, there are some options and even birthing centers that might work as an alternative for you. Some newer hospitals even have baths in their birthing rooms or allow for a birthing pool to be brought in, so ask your doctor and research your available birthing centers or hospitals.
My hospital here in our small town is older now and not very “new age” so they had just a small stand up shower, barely enough room for me, definitely not enough for my partner so he had to stand outside the glass wall. The water was nice, but I missed the closeness of having my partner to hold my hand or touch me in any way to help me through the contractions. My girlfriend in Alberta had the option of having a water birth at a birthing center, as she didn’t feel comfortable giving birth at home due to her proximity to a hospital. So if you live in a remote area, this also may be a great option. So first, find out if you are safe to have a home birth!
Research your method of tub or birthing pool
I researched A LOT! I mean, a lot. You have a ton of options from your personal bathtub in your own to an inflatable birthing pool or a hard plastic pool. Some self-heat, keeping the temperature and some come with a lid to retain heat, and you may need to add hot water if you are in labour for long enough to cause the water to cool.
Your Bathtub We had a deep jacuzzi tub and my partner suggested that. When I asked my midwife about it, she agreed that lots of women do it, and will actually fold a towel on the floor of the bath before filling it to cushion underneath her. Looking into this further, however, I thought if I was in labour for too long, the lack of room (I get antsy with contractions) and the hard surface may get more annoying than anything. I also factored in the cleanliness of the bath. Ramping up to labour, I would have to clean the bath daily and we have jets in ours, so even if I did clean it daily, I wasn’t confident that there wouldn’t be grim or dirty coming in from the water lines of the jacuzzi, so I actually didn’t even consider our bath.
But if you watch some youtube home births, lots of women do it and seem quite fine. If you are on a budget or don’t have room for a separate birthing pool, this may be a great option. I would make sure your tub has full accessibility to it. So if you have those sliding doors on your tub, I’d have someone help you remove those so your midwife can access you.
Hard-shelled pool These are a great option if you have the ability to leave it while you wait to go into labour since it can’t be taken down and is a whole single piece, unlike the inflatable one that you can blow up once you go into labour. In my research I did notice that the hard pools had the option more of having a heater built in that you set the temperature so you wouldn’t have to worry about getting someone to boil the kettle and add hot water continuously (although my labour was so fast I didn’t need, the water stayed very hot for me)
Another bonus of using a birthing pool over your bath is you can use a disposable liner, making your birthing environment sterile and super easy to clean up after.
The more popular one I found in my research was the Aqua Doula. Although over $1,000 to purchase, you can usually find local Doolas and midwives that offer rentals.
Inflatable Pool By far the more popular and widely used option. I personally used the Aqua Born Eco Birth Pool, which looks like is discontinued now, as I couldn’t find a lot of information on it, but here is a link to a review. I also included a picture from my home birth using it. I liked it because it was deeper, I could lay back sink into it with each contraction, and with most, I turned around on my knees and used the edge as a pillow. Sean had set up a towel there for me to lay on as well.
It kept the heat in it extremely well, I got in about midnight I would say, and my little girl was born at 2:24 am. Or something. She came so fast that we all forgot to check the clock!
This one was just a regular round, deep pool, which did just fine for me. But there are a ton of options now, especially with Water Births on the rise again.
Some have built-in seats for you, cup holders, and there is even an egg-shaped one, which some have said make the mother feel safer and more cocooned. I will say this, I think a seat would have annoyed me and been in the way. Cup holders may have been a great bonus, however, Sean just moved a stool to the side of the pool where I had a puke bucket (haha) and water. So not really worth the extra $, personally. Looking today it would seem the more popular brand for birthing pool currently is the La Bassine Pool.
For a full review of ALL the kinds of birthing pools, in-depth with pictures, and measurements, I would check out this page! I actually used this very review when I was looking back in 2016!
Location and Set Up Make sure you have enough room to set up where you want and there is access to a tap, either bathroom or kitchen. Usually, rentals come with a kit that provides a long hose, faucet attachment, and electric inflator. I wanted to give birth in our master bedroom but upon measuring the space, there was no way there would be room around the pool for the midwife to access me at any angle or Sean; they would have had to crawl over the bed. So make sure you think of all the obstacles and how it will play out in your head.
Pool Supplies Make sure if you are renting your pool, that you get a list of what is included. You will need:
- Electric Inflator
- Pool Liner
- Long Hose
- Faucet attachment for your faucet, so this is why you need to figure out which sink your pool will be closest too.
- Tarp for under your pool (Not so much for leaks but to catch drips from getting in and out, midwife checks, etc…)
We had to actually buy different faucet attachments as the ones included in our kit didn’t work.
I cannot stress this enough, do a DRY RUN before you give birth. Set up everything, inflate your pool, make sure it works, sit in it, walk around and make sure the area works, there are no leaks, the hose reaches and attachments work for your faucet. If we had not done this, we would have been screwed in the middle of the night with no way to fill the tub. DO A DRY RUN!
Home Birth Supplies You know those great mesh underwear you get at the hospital after giving birth? Or maybe this is your first, so I will just tell you how AMAZING they are. Seriously, they may not be attractive but they are extremely comfy. If you are going through a midwife, they may have a home birthing kit readily made for their Mothers and can purchase. Mine did for $20, which was way easier than searching and sourcing everything out separately myself.
- Mesh Panties
- Peri Bottle
- Waterproof Liner
- Old towels/linens for clean up and wrapping baby in. Don’t use anything new as you will get blood and placenta etc all over them
- Heavy flow pads or, even better. Adult diapers, not even joking
- Washcloths
- Hand Mirror, if you wanna see that kind of thing
- Container or bowl for the placenta (we forgot this and Sean was running around panicking, eventually found a huge piece of Tupperware.
- Flashlight
- Plenty of garbage bags for after you drain the pool and need to throw out the liner
- Side table or stool to set drink/food during labour
- Snacks and ice
- A little hat for the babe
- Bra or bathing suit to wear while birthing. I was naked, and it was freeing but if you have other people in the room or are shy, you may want to consider a bathing suit top.
In addition, there may be some other items you may want to get in order for your home water birth:
- Candles
- Music Playlist
- Do you have kids already, will they go with grandparents or stay and be involved in the birth?
- A week before your due date, I’d do a deep clean of the house or hire someone for a couple of hours.
- Pets, do you have a dog? I personally got my Mom to take both the kid and the dog. I get easily irritated while in labour and knew it’d be better for everyone if it was just Sean, the midwife and I.
- Who will be there, will you have a birth photographer? A doola? Your Mom? Make sure everyone knows ahead of time what your plan is so there are no hurt feelings or expectations.
- Consider documenting the birth either having your partner take photos or videos or hire a professional. I still wish I had more labour and birth pictures from my first. I just have after the birth. Everything is a blur and you may forget some things in all the activities.
I honestly loved giving birth at home and especially in water. There was no nurse bugging us every couple of hours, taking the baby out of my arms for reason XYZ, lights on, sharing a room with someone. No thank you. Afterward, we got to climb in our bed (put a waterproof protective cover down under your sheets prior to giving birth!) and we got to doze and snuggle all morning, in our own bed, in our own home. It was perfect.
I love birth stories and feel they are so empowering! I’d love if you shared yours, hospital, home, car whatever! I love them all. Send them my way or comment below!
I hope this helps you prepare for your home water birth and if you have any questions about my experience, I’m happy to answer.
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