How to Prepare for A Relaxed Home Birth
Having a baby is the most important day of your life, and you want it to be as enjoyable and stress-free as possible. Home birth is an excellent option if the thought of a hospital birth sends you into panic mode. Here are some suggestions on how to prepare for a relaxed home birth.
Build a Nest
Prepare a suitable room in your house for your home birth. This ideally could be a spare room with a bed so you can prepare it in advance of the birth.
Make sure the bed is comfortable, and you have plenty pillows on it to prop yourself in different positions. A few beanbags, large floor cushions or comfortable chairs are ideal to have too. Soft, fluffy blankets in abundance will offer a sense of security and warmth.
Consider purchasing a birthing ball because being upright can enable an easier birth. Ultimately, you need to ensure that your birthing room is a soft, comfortable cocoon.
Take the Plunge
Birthing pools are a popular option for home birthing. Giving birth in water can reduce pain and therefore reduce the need for drugs. The buoyancy of the water makes you feel lighter and enables you to get into more comfortable positions for the final stages. Alternatively, it can keep you more upright – which gives you the advantage of working with gravity as your baby is born.
Make it a Den of Zen
Create a tranquil atmosphere by lighting scented candles that emit aromas such as relaxing lavender. Play relaxing music or nature sounds. Classical music and water flowing sounds are incredibly relaxing. Distracting sounds will be cancelled out by music, and you will be able to concentrate on the birth. Buy an indoor water feature from the Soothing Company to provide a relaxing visual cue on which to focus. The relaxing sound of trickling water and the hypnotic flow will induce calm.
Don’t Let There Be Light
Shut the curtains and turn off bright lights. Dim lights create a calm ambience, as do candles and lanterns. For a really magical experience, you could hang strings of fairy lights around the room. Dimmed lights seem to make people lower their voices, which is what you need when you are trying to focus. However, make sure you have sufficient light for the birthing team to see what they are doing.
Spread the Love
Make sure you have emotional support. It’s important that you and your midwife have a good emotional connection and communicate well. It helps to chat with your midwife before the birth and tell her your wishes and how you would ideally like the process to pan out. You don’t want to be having arguments or misunderstanding in the middle of giving birth.
If you need a bit more emotional support than a midwife or partner can provide, consider hiring a doula. Doulas don’t take a clinical role, instead working with the medical team. They also don’t advise, but can support you to find balanced information to make informed maternity care decisions.
Birth doulas provide ongoing support, new mothers and couples, through pregnancy, labour and birth and for a short while after the birth. Postnatal doulas provide much needed emotional and practical support in the days and weeks following birth. The support is often valuable not only for the new mother, but also their partner, and it can be provided in the comfort of their own homes.
