Home Birth Supply List: What You Actually Need

Your midwife brings the clinical equipment. What that includes varies by credential and by state scope of practice, so ask her directly rather than working from a generic list. In general it covers monitoring equipment, resuscitation equipment for you and the baby, and whatever medications she is licensed to carry and administer. You are not expected to buy clinical gear.

You provide the basic supplies for comfort, cleanliness, and postpartum care. Clean linens, waterproof protection for your bed and furniture, supplies for the baby, and postpartum care items for yourself. These are household items.

One thing to budget for: many practices bill a birth supply kit on top of the global fee, and you order it rather than assembling it. Pathways Midwifery lists a kit at about $40, ordered around 36 weeks. ^[2] Redwood Midwifery lists one at about $130. ^[3] Ask early whether your midwife's fee includes a kit, because it changes what you need to buy yourself.

Waterproof protection is usually at the top of the list. That means mattress protection for your bed, often a couple of waterproof pads or a shower curtain, plus a supply of washable or disposable underpads (Chux pads) for wherever you plan to labor. Amniotic fluid and blood go somewhere, and protecting your mattress and furniture is the point. How many of each is a question for your midwife's list, since practices ask for very different quantities.

Old towels and washcloths do the rest of the work: warm compresses, drying the baby, cleanup. Most lists ask for around a dozen towels and a handful of washcloths, but again, go by yours. Thrift-store towels at a dollar or two each work fine. After the birth most people bin them or move them to the garage.

For the birth itself, the usual additions are receiving blankets to wrap the baby, since they get wet and you'll want dry ones, and a hat. Some lists include a bulb syringe and some don't, because many midwives bring their own. Check before buying. Beyond that, no special equipment is called for unless you're planning a water birth.

For yourself: overnight maxi pads rather than tampons, disposable mesh underwear, a peri bottle for rinsing, witch hazel pads, and sitz bath herbs or Epsom salt. Two or three packages of the pads and underwear is a common ask, though your midwife's list governs. Expect roughly $40 to $60 at a big-box store or online, based on current retail prices. The mesh underwear sounds odd and 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 avoidable stress.

Yes. You need a birth pool, which runs roughly $150 to $350 to buy or $65 to $150 to rent depending on your area, based on current listed prices. Purpose-built models such as the AquaDoula and Birth Pool in a Box have high sides and room for a birth partner. Your regular bathtub can work for labor but is often too small and too shallow for birth itself. Some practices include a labor tub in the fee. Redwood Midwifery, for one, includes deep water labor tub rental in its global fee, so ask before you buy. ^[3]

You also need a new drinking-water-safe hose (not one that has been used on your yard), a submersible pump for draining, and a way to heat water. Most people use their water heater plus pots on the stove.

Someone needs to monitor the water temperature, and the number comes from your midwife, not from a shopping list. For reference, the UK's NICE intrapartum care guideline states: "For women labouring in water, monitor the temperature of the woman and the water hourly to ensure that the woman is comfortable and not becoming pyrexial. The temperature of the water should not be above 37.5°C" (99.5°F). ^[1] US practice guidance is less specific on a number, so ask your midwife what range she wants and how often she wants it checked, and buy a thermometer she approves of.

A disposable liner runs about $20 to $40 and saves scrubbing a pool after a long labor. Some midwives require one, others leave it to you. A fish net, genuinely, helps clear solid matter from the water. Budget somewhere around $250 to $400 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.

Most of the list comes from ordinary retailers. Mattress protectors, towels, receiving blankets, postpartum supplies, and baby basics are all standard stock, and that portion tends to run $120 to $180. Medical supply stores, online or local, sell Chux pads in bulk more cheaply than drugstores, generally $25 to $40 for a package of 50.

For water birth supplies, buying direct from a birth pool retailer usually beats a general marketplace on both price and liner compatibility. A local midwifery practice or birth center may rent pools, which is the sensible route if you're unsure you'll use one. Plenty of people plan a water birth and don't end up getting in.

Expect roughly $150 to $300 total for a land birth and $350 to $650 with a birth pool, on top of any supply kit your midwife bills separately. ^[2][3] Every figure in this section is a Home Birth Partners estimate from current retail prices, not a survey result, and prices move. You can cut the cost by borrowing towels, buying secondhand receiving blankets, and using a shower curtain instead of medical underpads. Postpartum supplies for yourself cost the same whether you birth at home or in a hospital, so leave them out of any home-versus-hospital comparison. Some families box up what's left over for a future birth.

Aim to have everything by 36 weeks, or by whatever date your midwife gives you. Babies come early, and partners and support people need to know where things are. Ask your midwife when she wants the supplies in the house, since some want to see them at a home visit.

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.