Sanitizing towles and bags they're stored in?

[GracesMama]

I just got my supply list from my mw and she has an "optional" section that tells you how to sanitize the towels and the paper bags you store them in before the birth. Has anyone ever gone to that extreme? With my first homebirth (different mw, different state), I just washed the towels and stored them in a cardboard box. I was planning on doing the same this time, but maybe sanitzing would be better?

[mommathea]

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Edited by mommathea - 5/11/11 at 1:11pm

[sattygirl99]

I didn't sanitize mine.. Well... I guess I sorta did because they came from MIL's and reeked of fabric softener and dryer sheets so I had to bleach the crap outta them. But they're just sitting in a laundry basket with the rest of my birth supplies... My MW's assistant touched them last week and didn't even say anything about needing to rewash.

Sanitizing towels sounds kind of odd to me... Wouldn't you just wash 'em on hot and dry 'em? We don't sanitize towels normally, or our underwear for that matter...

[borncrunchy]

Originally Posted by GracesMama

I just got my supply list from my mw and she has an "optional" section that tells you how to sanitize the towels and the paper bags you store them in before the birth. Has anyone ever gone to that extreme? With my first homebirth (different mw, different state), I just washed the towels and stored them in a cardboard box. I was planning on doing the same this time, but maybe sanitzing would be better?

Are you in SC by chance? Near Charleston...? One of the midwives I talked to has these exact instructions on her website.... sounds very strange and unnecessary.

[MsBlack]

It's an 'old school' idea, stemming from the early days of homebirth's resurgence, when most midwives were essentially copying the medical model (but in a kinder, gentler, down home sort of way). In this case, it was about trying to mimic the 'sterile environment' of the hospital; in the meantime we've learned that hospitals are NOT sterile by any means, and that the 'normal flora' of one's own home poses no danger to moms/babies. I tell moms just to wash towels/blankets and set them aside where other kids won't get into them--in a covered bin, or plastic bags, if they have pets/pet hair in abundance.