5 Practical Home Birth Essentials

Preparing for a home birth in an exciting time. But it can also feel daunting if you haven't had a birth at home before, or if you're the first of your friends and family to do so. Here are our top 5 practical essentials for planning for an enjoyable birth and labour at home.

1) Mental Preparation - not so many decades ago, home birth was just... birth. These days however, home birth is talked about much less than hospital birth, and we hear about birth happening in hospital being the 'norm' from a very young age. This is why mental preparation is key. Learning to 'switch off' your mind during labour and follow your body's lead will guide your birth to be well, uneventful yet euphoric! This is where joining a hypnobirthing class either in-person or online can help. We love the Birth-Ed Method (online course) to walk you through the science of birth (no hypnotherapy involved!), and teach you how your body's natural processes work to start labour, continue labour, and birth your baby. Positive affirmations are an important part of hypnobirthing, and our Birth Affirmation Cards are a great supplement to any hypnobirthing course. Pop them on your phone as your screen saver for a little dose of positivity and confidence-building every time you look at your phone.

2) Aroma Diffuser with lavender essential oil - Creating an intimate, private and relaxed space at home (or anywhere you choose to birth), will support your body during labour. Lavender oil has been used for centuries to aid relaxation. Pop some drops into your aroma diffuser to help your mind and body to relax through contractions. Our aroma diffuser will also provide some soft lighting in your birth space, making it feel zen and spa-like - supporting the body's need for darker spaces to keep labour moving along naturally.

3) Birth Ball - a great comfort measure for at-home labour and birth, while also supporting baby's positioning. Sitting upright on your birth ball can help baby's head put pressure on the cervix to aid contractions and help baby get into position. Bouncing on your birth ball can provide distraction during contractions, as can kneeling next to it with your head resting on/over the ball as you ride out a contraction. This position can also relieve some pressure on your back, and allow extra space for baby to move into position ready for birth. Birth Balls are also helpful to relieve back pain during pregnancy. If you've been bouncing on your birth ball during pregnancy, try bouncing on it while holding your newborn babe - they may just drift off to sleep with the familiarity of the movement. Sit on your birth ball to better feel your pelvic floor exercises too - it's really a pregnancy, birth and post-partum essential!

4) Large Water Bottle - Hydration, hydration, hydration. It is key to keep your uterus muscles working optimally during labour. Just like during any other exercise, you fuel your muscles with food and fluid before and during exercise. This is to keep them working effectively and to avoid the build up of lactic acid during your workout. When your muscles don't receive adequate fluid and food (and electrolytes), this can speed up the production of lactic acid and cause painful muscle cramping. Same deal with labour - fuel your uterus muscles to support them to contract optimally and aid a smoother labour. When women talk of the 'pain' of labour, it is often the lactic acid causing cramping in the uterus muscles they are referring to. If cramps happen during a workout, you'd stop and stretch out the muscle. But you can't stop labour this way, so the cramping muscles keep contracting and this can cause a lot of discomfort. Our bottle is extra large so you don't have to worry about topping it up during labour, or when breastfeeding after birth (which is very thirsty work!).

5) TENS Machine - a simple, at-home comfort measure. When you first feel contractions, putting on your TENS machine can help reduce discomfort during more intense contractions later on in labour. The earlier you put the TENS pads onto your lower back, the better. Just remember to take it off before you get into the bath or birthing pool!

Have you planned your home birth yet, or are you considering one? Let us know! Follow us on Instagram @thepracticalbirthandbabyco