You'll need about $150-$300 in birth supplies including waterproof pads, clean towels, receiving blankets, postpartum pads, and a few specific items like a peri bottle and disposable underpads. Your midwife brings all medical equipment, oxygen, resuscitation gear, and medications. Most families spend around $200 total at Target, Amazon, and a medical supply store.
Your midwife will send you a supply list, usually around 28-32 weeks. The lists look long, but most items are things you already own or will use postpartum anyway. This guide breaks down what you actually need to buy, what you can skip, where to find it, and what your midwife provides.
Your midwife brings all medical equipment and emergency supplies. This includes a fetal doppler or fetoscope, blood pressure cuff, oxygen tank, IV supplies, resuscitation equipment for both you and baby, suture materials, medications like Pitocin and Cytotec, and instruments for newborn exams. You will never be asked to purchase medical gear.
You provide the basic supplies for comfort, cleanliness, and postpartum care. Think clean linens, waterproof protection for your furniture and bed, supplies for the baby, and postpartum care items for yourself. These are household items, not medical supplies.
The division makes sense when you realize your midwife needs sterile, calibrated equipment she can rely on, while you need enough clean towels and a comfortable space. Most midwives carry $8,000-$15,000 worth of medical equipment to every birth.
Waterproof protection tops the list. You need 2-3 waterproof mattress pads or a shower curtain for your bed, plus 4-6 washable or disposable waterproof pads (Chux pads) for wherever you plan to labor. Amniotic fluid, blood, and other fluids will go somewhere, and protecting your mattress and furniture matters.
You need 10-12 old towels and 4-6 washcloths that you don't mind staining. These get used for everything from warm compresses to drying the baby to cleanup. Buy cheap ones at a thrift store for $1-$2 each if you don't have extras. After the birth, most people throw them away or designate them as garage rags.
For the actual moment of birth, you need 3-4 receiving blankets to wrap the baby (they get wet and you'll want fresh ones), a bulb syringe for suctioning if needed (though most midwives bring their own), and a hat for the baby. That's it. You don't need special equipment, inflatable pools unless you want a water birth, or anything medical.
For yourself, you need 2-3 packages of overnight maxi pads (not tampons), 2-3 packages of disposable mesh underwear, a peri bottle for rinsing, witch hazel pads, and sitz bath herbs or Epsom salt. Total cost runs $40-$60 at Target or Amazon. The mesh underwear sounds odd but becomes your favorite item by day two.
You need basic newborn supplies whether you birth at home or not. Stock 2-3 dozen newborn diapers, wipes, diaper rash cream, infant nail clippers, a thermometer, and newborn clothing in both newborn and 0-3 month sizes. Many babies skip newborn sizes entirely and go straight to 0-3 months, so don't overbuy the smallest size.
For feeding, have a hand pump even if you plan to exclusively breastfeed, nursing pads, lanolin cream, and bottles with newborn nipples. The bottles aren't an endorsement of formula feeding. They're for pumped milk, donor milk, or the rare situation where supplementation becomes necessary and you need something immediately. Not having a bottle at 2am when a midwife suggests supplementation creates unnecessary stress.
Yes. You need a birth pool, which you can buy for $150-$350 or rent for $65-$150 depending on your area. The most common model is the AquaDoula or Birth Pool in a Box, both designed with high sides and room for a birth partner. Your regular bathtub works for labor but rarely works for birth itself unless you're very small or have a very large tub.
You also need a new garden hose designated for drinking water (not one used for your yard), a submersible aquarium pump for draining, and a way to heat water. Most people use their water heater plus pots of boiling water on the stove. You'll need someone dedicated to monitoring and adjusting water temperature, keeping it between 97-100°F during labor and no higher than 98°F during birth.
Buy a disposable liner for the pool ($20-$40) even though pools are cleanable. After 12+ hours of labor, nobody wants to scrub a birth pool. Some midwives require liners; others leave it up to you. A fish net (yes, actually) helps remove any solid matter from the water if needed. Budget $250-$400 total for water birth supplies beyond the standard list.
Aromatherapy diffusers and special essential oils top the unused list. Many women find strong smells overwhelming during labor, and the lavender oil that seemed perfect at 36 weeks might make you nauseated at 7cm. If you like aromatherapy, great, but don't buy it specifically for birth.
Birth affirmations, battery-operated candles, and special playlist equipment rarely get used. Labor changes your brain. Most women either want complete quiet or don't care what's happening around them. The Spotify playlist you curated for three hours may never get played. Keep expectations low for any ambiance planning.
Special labor snacks often go uneaten. Stock your regular easy foods like crackers, honey, bananas, and coconut water. Skip the fancy organic labor-aide popsicles and energy balls. You might not eat at all during active labor, and your birth team will appreciate normal snacks more than special ones. Plain food gets eaten; precious food gets ignored.
Amazon and Target carry 80% of what you need. Buy mattress protectors, towels, receiving blankets, postpartum supplies, and baby basics from standard retailers. You'll spend $120-$180 here. Medical supply stores (online or local) carry Chux pads in bulk for better prices than drugstores, usually $25-$40 for a package of 50.
For water birth supplies, buy from dedicated retailers like Your Water Birth or Birth Pool in a Box directly. Amazon carries some pools but often at higher prices and with uncertain liner compatibility. A local midwife practice or birth center may rent pools, which makes sense if you're unsure whether you'll actually use it. Many women plan for water birth and don't end up getting in.
Expect to spend $150-$300 total for a land birth and $350-$650 for a water birth. You can reduce costs by borrowing towels, buying secondhand receiving blankets, and using your own shower curtain instead of medical underpads. The postpartum supplies for yourself cost the same whether you birth at home or in a hospital, so factor those into any comparison. Some families keep the birth supplies separate and save them if they plan more children.
One-time purchase costs, not including items you already own
Source: Survey of home birth families, 2024
Buy everything by 36 weeks. Babies come early, midwives sometimes can't get to you before birth starts, and partners or other support people need to know where supplies are. Some midwives won't accept you as a client past 36 weeks without confirmed supplies, especially the waterproof protection and postpartum items.
Set up your birth space at 37 weeks. Put the mattress protector on your bed, stack the towels and blankets in your birth room, and organize postpartum supplies in your bathroom where you'll actually use them. If you're planning a water birth, inflate the pool to check for leaks, then deflate it and keep it accessible. You don't leave it inflated for weeks.
Make a list of where everything is located and give it to your partner and midwife. In labor, you won't want to answer "Where are the extra towels?" seventeen times. Your partner needs to know that clean towels are in the hallway closet, Chux pads are under the bathroom sink, and receiving blankets are in the dresser. A simple handwritten list taped inside a cabinet door works perfectly.
Order your supplies by 36 weeks and set everything up by 37 weeks so you're not scrambling if labor starts early. Focus your money on good waterproof protection and postpartum supplies for yourself, since those directly affect your comfort and recovery. If anyone offers to buy something from your registry, point them toward the birth supplies rather than adorable baby clothes, because the underpads and mesh underwear actually matter in the first 48 hours.