You may have a small home and be limited in the areas where you can labor and birth; if your home is large you may have many rooms to choose from. You may begin to prepare your nest by choosing the rooms where you would most like to give birth.

When choosing your birth room you may consider:

· Privacy

· Location to bathroom

· Location to main living areas

· Size

Depending on your personality you may want to plan your birth room in a private area of your home. This allows you some distance between the more busy parts of the house and from your birth companions when needed. Some women, however, prefer to give birth in the more public areas of the home or even outside. If you are having trouble making a decision between private and public, choose a place of each and plan to make the final decision when your labor begins.

You will be using the toilet many times throughout your labor. If you are laboring in a birth pool or tub your midwife may give you the go-ahead to empty your bladder in the water. She will, however, ask that you get out to urinate many times, so having a toilet nearby is convenient, especially when contractions are closer together and it becomes harder to walk.

You will want to consider the location of your birth room in relation to the main living areas of your home. You may want easy access to the kitchen and living room where your birth companions will mingle, work and rest in between helping you. You may enjoy laboring among your friends and family, walking and using your furniture for support and pain relief. If your labor is quick, these things may not be an issue. Consider, however the impact of the location of your birth room on your labor if your labor is slowed for some reason, you plan to have a breech birth, or other special circumstances. One mother was happy that she had a false alarm near the end of her pregnancy because she was able to try out her birth room first.

She recalls, “This time I wanted to labor with my friends and family, so we set up the pool and supplies in a small bedroom off from our living room. I thought we were ready to have the baby so we called everyone to come. Fortunately we were wrong and the baby would not come for another couple of weeks. “Fortunate” because although only half of our birth companions showed up, even though they tried to be quiet I could hear them whispering through the closed door. I could not concentrate at all. The room filled up quickly when they came in and I became claustrophobic. This showed me that I wanted more privacy and a larger room. So we moved the birth pool and supplies to the largest, furthest bedroom in the house.”

Moving her birth room was a good decision, “Finally the day came when I was really in labor. Everyone, including the midwives thought it was going to be fast. We learned later, however, that the baby was still high. I worked for a couple of hours in various positions to try to get him to come down. This required a lot of concentration, moaning and groaning on my part, all of which I was more comfortable doing in private. When he finally came out there was plenty of room for everyone to witness his birth.”

This mother’s story brings up another important consideration - the size of the birth room. Your room needs to be large enough to accommodate at minimum you, your partner and your midwife and her assistant(s), as well as an area to lay out your birth supplies and a clear area that your midwife can use for emergencies like resuscitation of your baby or you. If you are setting up a birth pool you will need room for it as well. Locating the birth pool near a water source will be beneficial when it’s time to be filled. Furthermore, locating the pool near a window will help when it is time for it to be emptied. You will want the birth room to be warm, so if it is winter you may need to allow room for a portable heater. The size of the birth room will also impact the level of body heat generated; the more people you have in a small birth room the hotter it will be and if you also have a birth pool in the room, expect things to get toasty. A large room allows for more heat dispersion. You may want to add a hand held fan to your list of birth supplies. Someone can fan you whenever you desire while keeping the room warm for the baby’s arrival.

· Candles – you may consider non-scented candles because your sense of smell will be heightened during labor.

· Thick curtains – blocking the light from the windows may prove instrumental when your labor is long and you have labored through the night and are now laboring during the day. Your eyes may be tired and sensitive to sunlight. It can also beneficial to shade the baby’s eyes once he or she is born.

· You may opt for kerosene lanterns for a nice glow, safety, and reusability. Note: open flames must be kept away from your midwife’s oxygen tank.

· Music – you may want your favorite tunes or nature sounds playing as your baby enters the world. You may want to create a long running CD, or put your player on repeat so no matter how long your labor, no one will have to worry with keeping up with the stereo player. A standard CD will hold approximately 10 hours of MP3s. You have to play MP3s on either a CD/MP3 player (old CD players won’t play MP3s), a computer, or a DVD player that plays MP3s.

If you decide to set up your birth room well before your birth, you may consider spending time in the room visualizing your birth.

You will need to stock your pantry for the birth. You can cook meals in advance and have them in the freezer to eat during or after the birth. Your birth companions may want to prepare food as you labor. The smell of cooking food sometimes negatively affects laboring women; sandwiches and other cold foods are a good back-up plan. It is important to have good labor foods and drinks on hand for yourself. According to Barbara Harper, in her book Gentle Birth Choices, “Given the option to eat, especially in early active labor, women at home and in birthing centers choose easily digested carbohydrates such as bread, cookies, toast, fruit, rice, or pasta, as well as light proteins such as cheese or yogurt.” She goes on to say, “Dehydration shows up as dry lips, a racing pulse, and lack of urination. A woman who needs protein will often become easily discouraged during labor and have a visible lack of energy.”1 You may want to stock your freezer with fruit bars, Popsicles, frozen grapes, or make your own frozen sweets. This will give you energy and cool you down. White grape juice is a nice flavorful, high-energy drink that you can keep chilled in the refrigerator. Avoid red grape juice as it can slow blood clotting. Also, chilled water is nice to have; although it does not contain the energy boosting sugars it can be a nice break from just drinking sweets.

· Plastic for floor – shower curtains and plastic tablecloths are great for placing under the pool and on the outside to protect your floor. Tape the plastic to the wall where you can to keep water from running off and soaking your floor. Shower curtains are available new for around $3.00 and tablecloths for $.99 each (Wal-Mart).

· A pool

· An air pump – a must have for inflatable pools, available in hand-held and automatic units.

· A floating thermometer – it is important to keep a check on the temperature of the water for the safety of mother and baby. If you use an AquaDoula pool setup, the thermometer should be part of the set-up.

· A water hose – you may want to get a white “potable” one that is suitable for drinking water; most regular garden hoses contain lead.

· A faucet to hose adapter – note that kitchen faucets with built in sprayers usually will not hook up to faucet adapters, so a little rigging may be in order. Find out what type of faucets you have and purchase the correct equipment well in advance of the birth. This may be part of an AquaDoula pool setup.

· A pool heater - should be part of an AquaDoula pool setup.

· Rugs – place towels or rugs around the pool to absorb water and keep you from slipping

· A net – a Penn-Plax Quick Net makes a great scooper for cleaning excretions from the water.

· Pool liner – you will need a pool liner if you are using an AquaDoula pool. May be part of an AquaDoula pool setup.

Capacity: 150 gallons
Size: 4 feet, 6 inch diameter by 2 feet deep
Price to Own: $1199.00
Price to Rent: $245 (from AquaDoula). Your midwife may also offer rental, prices vary.
Advantages: Well constructed, comes with heater, pump, thermometer, carrying case, etc. Easily holds 2 average-sized people. Compact storage at just 20 inches by 25 inches.
Disadvantages: Price

Capacity: 100 gallons
Size: 4 feet, 4 inches by 31 inches by 2 feet deep
Price to Own: Approximately $75.00
Price to Rent: Some midwives offer these to rent, prices vary.
Advantages: Very durable construction, rigid, drainage hole with plug.
Disadvantages: Uncomfortable, does not have a heater, takes up a large area when storing.

Capacity: 150 gallons
Size: 4 feet, 10 inches by 39 inches by 2 feet deep
Price to Own: Approximately, $125.00
Price to Rent: Some midwives offer these to rent, prices vary.
Advantages: Very durable construction, rigid, drainage hole with plug.
Disadvantages: Uncomfortable, does not have a heater or other accessories, takes up a large area when storing.

Capacity: 106 gallons
Size: 5 feet diameter by 22 inches deep
Price to Own: Approximately $35.00
Price to Rent: Not available for rent.
Advantages: Inflated floor add more cushion, rugged construction, drain plug. Compact storage. Can be reused as a kiddie pool.
Disadvantages: Does not have a heater or other accessories, sides are not rigid, must purchase air pump.

Capacity: 100 gallons (80%full)
Size: 5 feet long by 53 inches deep
Price to Own: Approximatly $95.00
Price to Rent: Not available for rent.
Advantages: Inflated floor add more cushion, rugged construction, very cocoon-like, handles inside, upright air chambers. Compact storage. Can be reused as a kiddie pool.
Disadvantages: Does not have a heater or other accessories, sides are not rigid, must purchase air pump.

You will put much of your efforts into planning the process of your birth, but don’t forget the clean up! Hopefully your birth companions can help you with the tasks of washing and cleaning up after the birth. If not, ask if cleaning up is available through your midwife. The items that are needed for clean up are pretty basic:

· Trash bags – have a few in your birth kit box so they are easily assessable

· Laundry baskets – for soiled towels, washcloths and clothes

· Hydrogen peroxide – used for cleaning blood off of furniture, carpet, linens, towels and washcloths

· Bucket or bowl for placenta – small buckets can be found in the paint department of hardware and department stores. You’ll need a freezer bag to store the placenta.

Your midwife should have a “sharps” container for disposing of needles or any other sharp object. Never throw needles in the trash. Let your birth companions know when and at what time the garbage company picks up, or how to get to the local waste facility. Since this garbage will contain blood, it may attract animals so make a note to keep it inside until collection day. You can keep your placenta for burying or burning. Do not throw the placenta in trash, or try to flush it down the toilet, if you don’t want it give it to your midwife. Often families consider letting their dog “clean up” after the birth. Jennifer Shryock, Certified Dog Behavior Consultant and developer of Dogs & Storks,™ advises against this, “This truly scares me. I am concerned that the dog now takes on a completely different role and even sees his or herself as the caretaker."

Last, but certainly not least don’t forget to pamper yourself. Before the birth, take time to fill a basket full of the things that make you happy and the things that you will need postpartum. It will be a nice reward after the long, hard work of birthing your baby. Here are some items you may want to include:

· Fuzzy, soft or funny socks

· Warm slippers

· Nursing gown

· Pads

· Bubble bath or shower gel

· A mug or tea cup with your favorite packaged beverage

· Breast pads – cotton is healthiest

· Lansinoh – have it on hand and begin using it immediacy, BEFORE you feel you need it. This will help prevent your nipples from becoming sore.

· Sitz bath and herbs – you can purchase a plastic bath that fits over your toilet from your birth kit supplier

· Candles – great for when you want to soak in the bathtub or use in your nursing area

· Postpartum tea/herbs – available from your midwife or birth kit supplier

· Postpartum books - After the Baby’s Birth: A Woman’s Way to Wellness: A Complete Guide for Postpartum Women by Robin Lim is a great one, as well as others.

Preparing your nest can be one of the most exciting parts of your birth. It is a time for letting go of the old and welcoming the new. By considering a few key elements you can choose the room or rooms that will best support your birth. When you keep those rooms clean and tidy and add some calming accessories, as well as purchase a birth kit and other supplies, you will be well on your way to happy, healthy birth at home. Furthermore, a birth pool and a special gift for yourself are comforts that will go along way in your physical as well as emotional well being.

1 Gentle Birth Choices by Barbara Harper, R.N. copyright 1994, p. 78