Preparing For Your Free Birth - My Personal Checklist With Printable Guides

All printable guides can be found here for download: Printable Free Birth and/or Home Birth Guides

Labor and Birth Checklist: with links

Labor

• Snacks and electrolyte drinks (see labor snacks and drinks printable)

• 4-6 old towels

• Comfortable robe and nursing bras

• Battery operated tea-light candles / pool lights for birth pool

• Labor/Birth Guides (see printable guides below)

• Birth pool (I like the earthside pretty white one, but the oasis is a more affordable option)

• Air pump for birth pool

• Pool liner (you can get the ones that go with your birth pool, or get a generic option)

• 2 Plastic covers (one for floor, one for bed/couch)

• Hose, faucet adapter, and pump

• Water heater (buyer beware: I have not personally found one that works super well, yet)

• Floating pool thermometer

• Handheld mirror (if you want to see your baby crowning)

• Underwater flashlight (if desired)

• Water birth gloves (if desired)

• Birth ball (this is the one I have and it is pet hair resistant)

• CUB birthing stool (if desired — a toilet works just as well, just don't birth your baby in the toilet!)

• 25+ Chux pads

• Fetoscope

• Water birth net

• Bluetooth speaker (I like the JBL speakers but you can use any speaker you have)

• String lights (if you want to decorate your birth space)

• Untamed Birth's Free Christian Affirmations (digital download on untamedbirth.com/services)

• Essential Oils and diffuser (see list for uses below — Revive oils are NOT an MLM and are comparable to DoTerra or Young Living oils)

• Gentle birth tincture without cohosh

• Blood pressure cuff

• Labor combs / labor balls

Birth & Immediate Postpartum

For Baby:

• Receiving blankets/4-6 new and warm towels from the dryer 

• Nose Frida, bulb syringe or your mouth

• 2-3 Cord clamps or umbilical tie (etsy has tons of unbilical ties — even if you're planning on cord burning, it's good to have these on hand just in case)

• Beeswax candles if you're cord burning

• Cord burning box if you're cord burning

• Sterile umbilical scissors - still in packaging

• Eldon card & sterile syringe needle to draw blood from the cord

• Scale (either hanging or an animal scale off amazon)

• Baby sling for hanging scale

• Measuring tape

• Ambubag with neonatal attachments

For Mama and Birth Team/Partner:

• Sterile gloves

• Placenta bowl

• Herbs and salt for placenta if you're planning a lotus birth

• Disposable tin pan for placenta if freezing, encapsulating, or planting

• Gauze sponges for bleeding/tears

• Large trash bag for waste

• Hydrogen Peroxide spray

• Angelica tincture (for a slow to come placenta)

• Shepherd's Purse tincture (for hemorrhage)

• Yunnan Baiyou herb (for hemorrhage)

• Peppermint essential oil (for nausea, energy, or use in toilet for a slow to come placenta)

• Cypress essential oil (rubbed on thighs to help prevent excessive bleeding)
  

Postpartum:

 For baby:

• Newborn diapers (cloth or disposable)

• Coconut oil or olive oil (for wiping meconium)

• Baby wipes

• Sound machine (if desired)

• Silverette Nursing Cups

• Nail scissors or file kit

• Organic clothes (if desired — I prefer lots of skin to skin following the days after birth)

• Car seat (even if you aren't planning on going anywhere, this is good to have ready to go ahead of time, just in case plans change)

• Infant tummy relief by Earthley Wellness
  

For Mom:

• After Ease tincture or Ease the Ache tincture (for after pains)

• Manuka honey, comfrey & goldenseal salve or goldenseal myrrh compound, and seaweed (for healing tears)

• Arnica homeopathy (for pain)

• Sitz bath and Sitz bath herbs

• Magnesium lotion by Earthley Wellness

• Nipple balm or lanolin

• Peri bottle

• Lots of warm bedside snacks

• Disposable underwear

• Pads & liners

• Haakaa

• Nipple shields (make sure you get the right size for your nipples)

• Nursing bras

• Reusable nursing pads

• My Breast Friend breastfeeding pillow (the Boppy pillow can be used as a donut if you have hemorrhoids)

• Heating pad

• Night light (if desired for overnight baby care)

• Unscented body wash

• Wraps / carriers

• Washable pads for breastmilk leaks overnight (put them under your sheets to protect your mattress)

• Comfortable robe and nursing bras

Welcome Sign

Birth Pool: Setting Up and Draining

Birth Support Ideas For Your Partner / Team

Snacks and Drinks

Tinctures, Herbs, and Teas

Essential Oils

Labor Positions

Labor: What To Expect, What To Watch For

Notes taken from Home Birth On Your Own Terms