Preparing For An Unassisted Home Water Birth

I want to start off this post by saying there is really only one thing you need to birth at home, in a hospital or birth center, unassisted or attended, and that is a pregnant woman in labor! While it is so beneficial to be prepared as possible, we think it is important for all women to grasp this very foundational concept, that your body was designed for carrying life and giving birth in the most natural and instinctual way, without help or intervention! Now, that doesn't mean you can't ask for assistance or have people attending your births, for whatever resonates with where your family is at will be what is best for that birth experience; it simply means you understand the significance of the innate ability you possess within your Divine female form to carry life and give birth. 

Because we are choosing to birth at home without assistance, and because this is our first pregnancy, I felt inclined to spend a lot of time educating myself on the more ancient practices and traditions of birth. I will be thankful to not have to do that again in future pregnancies! It truly was an investment of time and energy that I believe could be made so much simpler if we would allow these "old ways" to become common and normal practices amongst women and their communities once again. There is so much medicine in our bodies and in the earth! It is amazing how well we have been provided for by the Creator of this Universe. With that being said, I want to make clear once again that all of these birth supplies are truly accommodations, and none of them should be considered necessary for birth. It was simply a blessing and a gift to be able to put together so many nice things for bringing in our sweet babe! So without further delay, I present to you... our unassisted home water birth supplies!

First I'll start off with the tub we chose. There are so many birth tubs out there with options for buying and renting, and they can get pretty expensive. After really looking in to the benefits of a "real" birthing pool and getting feedback from a lot of home birthing families, we decided to buy an inflatable kiddie pool that is perfectly suited for birth and comes highly recommended in the water birthing community! You can view the one we purchased here.



To inflate the tub we bought an electric pump. We tested it out and it only takes about seven minutes to  fill! For getting water in the tub, we purchased tap adapters that connect a drinking grade water hose to the bathroom sink. I know some people just use a regular garden hose, but we felt it was important to spend the few extra dollars it cost to be sure there was no lead or other toxins leached through a regular hose.





We purchased a few shower curtains and flannel-backed table cloths to lay down on the floor under and around the tub, as well as for on the couch and the bed, in case I want to move around during birth. I've heard you can never have enough towels, so we have about a dozen of those for keeping dry, as well as half a dozen receiving blankets and washcloths for Luna.



I've put together a pretty extensive collection of herbs & oils for during and after birth. It has always been a dream of mine to open a shop for handcrafted herbal wellness products and other goods related to conscious living. Oscar and I have been expanding and manifesting this dream through Home In The Hive, and we have spent the past few months tossing around ideas for launching a shop. With all of the encouragement and support we've been getting lately, we really felt inspired to not wait for things to be "perfect" and to just start moving boldly in the direction of our dreams! There is a lot of work we want to do and we have so many ideas for what we'll be selling, but I'm very excited to announce that you can purchase a handful of these products below through our newly-opened Etsy shop!

These are the essential oils and liquid herbal extracts I wanted to have handy. An immunity tonic throat spray, two synergy blends for clearing the airways & promoting free, steady breathing, lavender for calming & relaxation, tea tree for assisting in cleansing the umbilical cord or placenta if necessary. American Ginseng & Ginger are both physical & mental energy stimulators, Echinacea is the herbalists' antibiotic and can serve a multitude of purposes during and after birth, including clearing up systemic infections, mastitis, fevers, as well as it can be used on the umbilical cord to prevent any risk of infection, Passionflower is a natural remedy for hypertension.  

Castor oil is for inducing or speeding up labor, if we really were to feel that was necessary. Lanolin oil is an incredible moisturizer that helps prepare the nipples for breastfeeding. Vitamin E oil is also soothing to the nipples, as well as it helps promote scar-free healing and can be used for perineum tears after they have closed.

Dr. Bronner's unscented soap and aloe vera gel for cleaning Luna & myself. If you haven't used Dr. Bronner's, we're pretty obsessed and convinced its the best soap, if you're into soap!

I had lots of fun making these herbal blends! I've been creating body products for years now, but never for pregnancy. Diving into this new realm was such a treat!

       

The after birth bath tea is a blend of lavender, comfrey, rose petal, yarrow flower, lemon balm, chamomile, calendula, and goldenseal. The labor & after birth tea contains raspberry leaf, hibiscus flower, chamomile, alfalfa, lemon balm, wild cramp bark, motherwort, and nettle. Both of these blends, along with a more detailed description, are available for purchase through our Etsy shop! The placenta blend is for our Lotus Birth, which I wrote about here.





I've heard it's amazing to have something cold & soothing to sit on in the days and weeks following birth, so I prepared pads, or "padsicles", for helping out with that! I was gifted a wonderful after birth healing spray from another mama that I used on the pads (just a light misting) before putting them in bags in the freezer. The spray is a blend of witch hazel, aloe, and lavender essential oil. (Thank you, Lauren!) In case of any minor tearing, I made a slippery elm & comfrey salve, which work like nature's knitting needles! Both the salve and a similar spray are available in our Etsy shop.



The smaller jars are filled with some very powerful Chinese herbs to assist with healing and rejuvenating after giving birth. They were also gifted from a very kind mama. (Thank you, Tiffany!) The blend consists of dang gui, chuan xiong, tao ren, pao jiang, zhi gan cao, and yi mu cao.



In case we need any references during or after labor, I have my notebook compiled of research, an extensive guide to herbal remedies, and the best book I've found so far on educating a person for having a natural birth. We'll also have plenty of good snacks and beverages, candles, music, sage and whatever else we decide for creating the setting we feel inclined towards.

I really want to stress again the importance of internally preparing for birth taking a much higher priority over all the external preparations one can do. I've already given you so much information to digest that I will just end on that note for now, and will likely dedicate a future post to the inward preparation a natural home birth requires. In the meantime, I hope this post has been beneficial to you and please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions! We wish you a wonderful weekend and blessings to everyone currently preparing for an upcoming birth. May you find all the strength and wisdom you desire during this sacred time. Be sure to let us know what you think about the goodies in our Etsy shop and be on the look out for a lot more coming soon!

Love & Light,

Ashley, Oscar, Luna & Francois