Making the labour room more home-like....

this is a spin-off from Kelly's thread about homebirth as there seems to be alot of people who would love to have the quiet, peace and homeliness of a home birth, but for whatever reason can't/won't - me included.
Just thought we could start a list of ideas to make the room in hospital or birth centre more homely for us, would be if we could be homebirthers!!

I will start with my measly ideas!

Pics of family around the room
Own blanket/pillow
Oil that you burn at home

Um that's all I can think of - help me out wonderful ladies!

* Maybe some gorgeous flowers if you have them at home.
* Fave music.

You have put everything down I would have Tan :)

def oils and my own pillows ... my own pj's and foxtel :lol:

having the TV on in the background always made me feel more comfortable as the bl00dy thing is always on here through the day LMAO. But Dh and the midwives kept turning it off on me.

ETA - and putting my clothes away in a drawer/cloest. The rooms in my hospital always had a cupboard for your clothes and it felt normal to put them away instead of seeing a bag.

labouring in your own clothes. i spent the first part in my own clothes and it was much more comfortable, but i forgot my labour bag and didnt have a spare set, so when my waters kept gushing those became too uncomfy, so i had to switch to the rather unglamorous hospital nightie. it felt too big and i couldnt put it on on my own (too uncoordinated and the contractions were taking away my concentration). so this made going in and out of the shower really annoying.

first thing i did when i got back to my room was change into my stuff!

oh, and your fav slippers as tootsies can get cold...

Thanks heaps ladies - will definately be taking my Peter Alexander uggs! :)

We found music really helped - had an ipod hooked up to a good speaker system and kept creeping the volume up as the labour progressed...there were people wandering the halls of the labour ward wondering where the party was!

Lighting makes a big difference to the environment too - some rooms seem to be pretty good in the regard, but you can always bring in your own light to soften the room up a little.

Slippers - if you're going to be padding around a hospital floor in the room, or bathroom then something to have on your feet is better than cold tiles.

Cups or Mugs - cuts down the number of trips to the ice machine, and it's much nicer to hold than the disposable things that the hospital supplies.

Nice idea Tan!

Already great suggestions!

I would definitely go my own clothes and slippers (although gotta be prepared for the fact that they might get messy lol!).
Fave music/DVD's?
Your own drink bottle.

I agree with the lighting - I couldn't stand the bright hospital lights so we turned them off and DH asked my mum to bring in my bedside lamp, worked a treat and helped me to relax more. Of course the lights had to get turned back on at the business end of the birth.

do they let you burn your own oils in the hospital? do they let you dim the lights and have a few candles burning?

slippers are number 1 for me!!
good cordial, i hate water

I'm not sure about the wisdom of naked flames in rooms with plumbed in oxygen systems....just doesn't seem like a good idea if you know what I mean!

You can get electric oil burners for fragrant oils if you want that sort of thing...

I turned up in very established labour- I think that helps cause you hardly care by then! :lol:

The best thing we brought were 5 pillows- it was great to use them in labour knowing what they felt like and then perfect for sleeping afterwards.

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I'm not sure about the wisdom of naked flames in rooms with plumbed in oxygen systems....just doesn't seem like a good idea if you know what I mean!

You can get electric oil burners for fragrant oils if you want that sort of thing...

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Deh me, how true!

The hospital I'm going to has electric oil burners, just an idea if you can't have a naked flame in the room.

Hadn't thought about candles not being a good idea. Any suggestions for a way to safely mimic candlelight? I find there is something soothing and comforting about the flickering light of a candle, I need to be able to recreate that!

Most hospitals either provide or recommend an electric oil burner for that reason I think. Not silly at all kitt3n!

tsgirl - Maybe you could take some of those plug in night light things????

Good thinking Tanstar!!

There is a thread here somewhere where Kelly mentioned some gorgeous sounding battery operated fake candle lights (some hospitals wont let you plug in your own electics either!)... she mentioned to me a while ago that she she was thinking of tracking them down again. We should hassle her to find them and start selling them!

Not so much for labour, but for post birth when you are on your babymoon.........the laptop.

I took mine in with both Charlie and Lexie's births.......then I could pootle about on BB whilst they slept between feeds. Made me feel normal! As well as download and email a million photos!

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There is a thread here somewhere where Kelly mentioned some gorgeous sounding battery operated fake candle lights (some hospitals wont let you plug in your own electics either!)... she mentioned to me a while ago that she she was thinking of tracking them down again. We should hassle her to find them and start selling them!

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Ohhhh yes purleeease!! :pray: Kelly are you listening??

If you google Candela lights they might be what you are thinking of! They are rechargeable and portable but not cheap. :)

Thanks for the link Tanstar!! You're right, not cheap but definitely a way to recreate that beautiful soft light :D