Childbirth Checklist

Bed on bobbins or crates

It is important for us and the maternity nurse that we can work at the right height. Therefore, your bed should be at least 75 to 80 centimeters high. To reach this height, you can borrow bobbins from the Icare Medipoint collection point at Zwarte Water 77 in Dronten (at the outpatient clinic of the Sint Jansdal hospital).

Bobbins are too here to order. They will then be delivered to your home free of charge. Sometimes bobbins are too high. Then you can also use crates or wooden blocks to raise your bed. If your own bed cannot be put on bobbins, you can also put a single bed on bobbins.

For safety reasons, it is not possible to give birth in an attic, on a waterbed or on two mattresses stacked on top of each other.

Are you unsure whether your situation at home is suitable for... home birth? Then discuss this with us. We can then visit you to examine the situation so that we can give you advice about this.

From 37 weeks it is wise to protect your mattress in case your water breaks. A waterproof molton is very suitable for this.

Maternity package

You can request a maternity package from your health insurance. You usually receive this for free, but sometimes the maternity package is not reimbursed. You can also purchase a package via, for example www.medipoint.nl or buy the individual parts at the drugstore or pharmacy.

A maternity package consists of the following products:

• Minimum 8 coasters
• 1 maternity mattress
• 2 Packs of sterile gauzes 5 x 8.5 cm
• 1 Pack of sterile gauzes 10 x 10 cm
• 1 Umbilical clamp
• 1 Pack of zigzag cotton wool
• 1 Bottle of alcohol 70%
• 2 Packs of maternity pads
• 2 Thermometers

Hospital bag for childbirth

If you plan to give birth in the hospital or maternity care home, you will have already prepared a hospital bag in advance. But even if you are going to give birth at home, we recommend that you pack a suitcase with items, because a birth can always be different. What is useful to take with you:

• Clothes you want to give birth in
• Nightwear
• Sufficient underwear
• Clothes for after childbirth
• Items for your partner (clean clothes, toiletries and possibly swimwear for a bath birth)
• Toiletries
• Socks
• Slippers or slippers
• Something to eat and/or drink
• Baby items (bodysuit, suit, hat, jacket and shawl)
• Hospital punch plate
• Parking fee
• Camera (charged and equipped with an empty memory card)
• List of telephone numbers important to you
• Telephone number of the maternity care organization

For the baby

How much you want to purchase for the baby in advance is entirely up to you, but it is useful to have a number of items at home:

• 6 rompers size 50/56, 4 rompers size 62/68
• 4 packs size 50/56, 2 packs size 62/68
• 8 hydrophilic diapers
• 6 hydrophilic washcloths
• 6 burp cloths
• Diapers
• Buckets with lids for waste
• Crib/bed
• Mattress
• 2 moltons/molton covers as mattress protector
• 3 bottom sheets/fitted sheets
• 3 top sheets
• 2 blankets
• 2 metal seamless jars
• 2 hot water bottles (not all maternity care organizations work with hot water bottles)
• 1 changing mat with cover
• 1 baby bath/bath bucket (with standard if applicable)
• 1 hairbrush/comb
• 2 shawls
• 2 hats
• Car seat suitable for 0 to 9 kg

Prepare when labor starts

When the birth starts, you can do and/or prepare a number of things:

• Make sure that the room where the birth will take place is approximately 22˚C
• Make sure the mattress is well protected. A waterproof molton over the entire mattress works best, but a plastic sheet, for example from the maternity package, is also possible.
• Fill the jars with boiling water and place them in the jar bags. Place them in the crib or bed. Wrap a shawl, a hat and the clothes that the baby will wear around one hot water bottle and 6 hydrophilic diapers around the other hot water bottle.

Also prepare the following:

• The maternity package
• 2 buckets
• A roll of garbage bags
• A roll of toilet paper
• The folder with the pregnancy card
• The briefcase for the hospital