Homebirth, the mess factor?

michellepeanut

Hi Ladies,

I'm expecting #2 in January, #1 will be 19 months when she's born, and we're considering a homebirth. I really wanted to have #1 at home but due to some health issues with our daughter we ended up with a natural hospital birth. 

I have two main concerns with having a homebirth: (1) the mess, how bad is the clean-up? We have light carpet and I remember a lot of blood from my first birth. (2) what do you do with your older kids? Our daughter is very attached to us (especially me) and I don't see that changing in the next couple months, I think she might have a hard time staying with her grandparents but I don't think she'll understand enough to stay in the house. Any suggestions/advice?

emilykathleen511

I only have one, so no advice about #2, but as for #1, our midwives were awesome at keeping the mess on plastic sheeting and old towels and whatnot. And they cleaned up everything afterward. They even put a load of laundry in the washer for us before they left. My house was clean when they left!   I *did* have a water birth though, so the actual birthing part took place in the water, so I'm sure that helped contain a lot of mess. I would just ask potential midwives that you interview about it.

annabelle.27

Mess factor: zero. The midwives cleaned up everything, including a few blood spots in the carpet. When they left we were chilling in bed with a load of laundry in the washer and a clean house.

tokenhoser

You need to have childcare for your daughter whether she leaves or not. I had an accidental homebirth, but fortunately my friend arrived and took DS to the park for the crucial hour. I had the baby (and went to the hospital afterward) and my doula ended up doing the first round of clean-up. The mess wouldn't have been bad, but the paramedic dropped my bag of waters/placenta and THAT was a crime scene. A midwife wouldn't have made that rookie mistake.

I wanted a night away from my son. He did a "practise" sleepover with grandma and grandpa about a month before the baby came and did great. He was fine for one night away. It helps that his grandma is patient and willing to offer mid-night cuddles and get up at 6 am.

michellepeanut

Awesome, thanks ladies! That makes me feel much better. We have the same midwifery team we had with #1 and I'm hoping for a waterbirth.