How messy is it really? - Page 2

[wendy1221]

Mine wasn't messy either. I had the baby in the irthing pool and got out after I delivered the placenta. TH emidwife stuck a towel between my legs while dh dried me and baby off (I never let go of him the whole time--mw's rule) and then I got into bed onto a towel. THey took the towel away damp, but not bloddy. The towel between my legs was bloody of course by the time I got switched to underwear and a pad, but I don't think it was bad. I don't recall there being much clean up at all, but I was in baby bliss.

Oh, my friend had a UC. It happened so fast, she had the baby on her bedroom carpet before she even realized she was ready to push. She said she had a small patch of blood to clean up (she did it herself afterwards) and some drips leading to the bathroom, but it wasn't bad at all.

[Maltagirl]

We covered our floor with upside-down, dollar-store, vinyl, flannel-backed tablecloths (flannel side up). Those offer a non-slip surface as well as some absorbency and protection. I planned a waterbirth with my son, but he ended up being born (as well as lots of other stuff that shot out of me, both ends, as he was born) on one of the tablecloths on the floor next to the tub.

We're expecting the next baby any day now, and the floors are again covered with tablecloths. We have a plastic sheet under the junky sheets on the bed, chux pads galore, and a brand new bottle of hydrogen peroxide.

[Singfourever@yahoo]

There was no mess at all during my birth. Once we were out of the water, I think I only used 2-3 chux pads. No drips or anything anywhere. The only place that has been messed up after both of my births has been in front of the toilet when I had to change my first couple pads and underwear. It can be awkward to get in and out of a pad/underwear right afterwards and that's when the blood is still flowing, so a bit has dripped onto the floor/mat both times.

[MyBoysBlue]

I didn't have a water birth so mine was a tiny bit messy. I had some chux pads on top of some camping mats just outside our bathroom. The messy part wasn't the birth the Chux pads caught all that but I had my placenta hanging by just the membrane for a bit and had to twist it to get it to detach and I had to use my hands which of course got all bloody and I touched the taps to wash my hands. So there were specks of blood on the sink, counter, floor, tub, walls and toilet in our very small bathroom. It was really just specks. DH got most of it but he missed some spots that I got a few days after the birth but he cleaned up most of it.

[cottonwood]

If you think you might be on the bed I'd put a waterproof covering under the bedsheet just to be safe, and lay sheets over anything you plan to walk across if you have a light-colored carpet. The main mess will be right where you give birth, but fluids of various kinds will inevitably find its way to other parts of your body, drip, etc. A nicer alternative to chux pads is to simply have a couple of folded up blankets underneath where you give birth. The fluids will wash out if you get them in the wash reasonably soon, and if blood dries, you can use hydrogen peroxide to get it the stains.

That makes it sound like more than it is. I think for most women, it's really not a lot of fluids. My husband threw the blankets I birth on in the wash, toweled up a little blood that had dropped on our wood floor, and that was it.

The placenta is definitely messier because, well, it's bloody! I think I would have been okay if I'd just just let it plunk into the bowl and stay there, but I wanted to look it over and wasn't wearing gloves, so my hands were all bloody. That too was a contained mess, though.

[Peppamint]

Originally Posted by fourlittlebirds

If you think you might be on the bed I'd put a waterproof covering under the bedsheet just to be safe,

Having an "old" sheet and waterproof barrier over top of a freshly made bed makes it really easy to just pull off the top layer and tada, you have a clean bed.

[tinyshoes]

y'know, this thread has got me thinking about the messiness of birth....

....it's still messy at the hospital.

The difference is, the mess from dozens of births that came before yours were "cleaned" up before you got there. It's freaky--as a doula, I've seen the little spray bottle of cleaner that the L&D RN uses to clean up the obvious blood, and I'm sure the custodial staff smears a mop around in each L&D room.

I guess, no matter how messy a birth might be, I feel blessed that it's only my blood & fluids in my own home that I'll encounter.

[starlein26]

We had very, very little mess...My water broke on our walk, but it trickled slowly enough that dh's shirt did the job and the small amount of fluid/blood I lost was quickly and easily caught by our midwife's assistant...I was expecting so much worse since my first birth was pretty bloody.

[georgia]

Mine weren't messy...but my first HB was very soggy Long story, but dh didn't do a very good job of ensuring that all the tub plugs were closed tightly, and we had one of the birth pool's layers lose air. Slosh, slosh went the water out the pool anytime I leaned. Lots of towels (read every towel in the house) and a few comforters later, all was good We have one of those blue tarps that we used also. I had a trail of towels from the pool to my shower, and there was very little blood IME, the mess is absolutely not an issue. And like tinyshoes said, it was my mess

[Eaglevoice]

I had my babies in the water, so no mess really. I put some chux under me on the bed as I snuggle and got my little one latched on for the first time. But other than that I think I only soiled a couple of chux. I ended up with so many extras that I never even needed from my birth kit.