Hi there i'm 32+ 5 weeks. this is my 1st pregnancy & i'm planning a home birth. Really didn't like the look of the hospital! What do i need for a home birth?
Katie x

Hi Katie, I had a home birth with my 3rd and would thoroughly recommend it. If you've discussed it with your midwife, she will arrange to visit you at home at about 36weeks and will talk you through what you need, where you are planning on having baby, and what you need to do once labour starts.

I bought a couple of cheap shower curtains from tescos to protect the bed, which were ideal. I also packed a hospital bag just in case, but it also meant that I had all baby bits to hand and oh didn't have to search around for vests, nappies etc! I would also recommend having some oldish towels to hand to wrap baby in, oh passed the midwife a decent towel which we ended up having to throw away. Straws for your drinks as you will get thirsty and probably won't want to sit up and don't forget your camera!

IF I was ever to do it again (and thats a big IF) I would have a home birth, its a lovely experience and even though mine was extremely quick (my birth story is in the birth section) its very relaxing and less stressfull.

Good luck
Sam xx

Hi there, I had a home birth for my first and again, had a lovely experience. I found beach towels where good as all the mess didn't look so bad against the bright colours. Have a hot water bottle for the moses basket to warm it up for the baby, and if you're having a water birth I would suggest you get an under water torch as it's nice to have the lights low. And the most important thing to remember is the bottle of Champagne in the fridge!! Good luck. xx (check out www.homebirth.org.uk)

HI, I had a home birth coz like u i didn't like the look of the hospital. i don't like hospitals as a rule. I was woken at 1.30pm with pains 10mins apart so didn't have much time to get ready. i made the bed up with a sheet under a shower curtain and another sheet on top, this way when it's all over, you can take off the sheet and shower curtain and not have the hassle of making up the bed.
i had a shower when labour started, planning on having a bath to ease pains but labour so quick it didn't happen! the midwives were fantastic and left about an hour after the birth. the best thing of all was lying in bed with oh with the baby between us - something u would never get in hospital. make sure the fridge has lots of snacks for you (if you can eat) yoor oh and the midwives, especially if it's in the middle of the night and a long labour. camera. spare batteries, and a bag packed with all the stuff you need for yourself and the baby so your oh doesn't have to search for it. old towels, wet wipes to cool you down, lots of drinks and energy drinks/bars...hope this helps, good luck! xxx