By the South Carolina Midwives directory team · Published September 18, 2026. This is a planning checklist for families exploring attended home birth, not medical advice. Your midwife and clinician decide what is appropriate for your pregnancy.
Every practice has its own supply list and protocols. Use this as a conversation starter, then follow the written list your care team gives you.
Start with the people, not the towels
Before you buy anything, sit with your partner or support person and answer a few tender questions out loud. Who do you want in the room? Who should wait nearby? Who will care for older children? Who will drive if you need to leave? Writing those answers down often brings more calm than any new purchase.
- Primary support person and a backup if they cannot be reached.
- Childcare and pet care plans, including overnight coverage.
- Neighbors or family who can help with meals, laundry or a quick errand.
- Your midwife’s call numbers, written on paper as well as in your phone.
- The hospital your team would use for transfer, with the address saved and printed.
Confirm care and credentials early
A checklist only works when the care plan is clear. Before your due date approaches, ask your midwife to walk you through eligibility, monitoring, newborn care and transfer arrangements. In South Carolina, licensed midwives are regulated by DPH; nurse-midwives are licensed through the Board of Nursing. Check the individual clinician, not only the practice name.
- Who attends the birth, and who is the backup if they are unavailable?
- How will you and baby be monitored during labor?
- What equipment does the team bring, including newborn resuscitation supplies?
- When would care move to a hospital or birth center, and how is that handoff handled?
- Where can you verify current credentials? Start with SC midwifery licensing and, when relevant, birth-center facility information.
Use our consultation question list · Understand CNM, CPM and LM
Home birth supplies checklist
You do not need to recreate a hospital. Your midwife typically brings clinical equipment. Your job is to protect surfaces, keep comfort close and make the space feel like yours.
Protect and clean
- Waterproof mattress protector or shower-curtain liner under the sheets
- Extra fitted sheets and old towels you do not mind staining
- Absorbent pads / chucks for the bed, floor or couch
- Large trash bags labeled for laundry, trash and any bio waste your midwife directs
- Unscented soap, paper towels and a laundry stain remover
Comfort for labor
- Birth ball or peanut ball, if recommended by your team
- Heating pad or hot water bottle
- Extra pillows and soft blankets
- Dim lighting, battery candles or a salt lamp
- Speaker and a playlist that settles your nervous system
- Lip balm, hair ties and a change of clothes for labor and after
Food and hydration
- Water bottles with straws
- Electrolyte drinks
- Easy snacks for you and your partner: salty, sweet and protein options
- Honey sticks, broth or another quick fuel your midwife suggests
For baby and the first hours after
- Receiving blankets and newborn hats
- Diapers, wipes and a few newborn outfits
- Car seat installed and checked before labor begins
- Nursing pillow, if you plan to use one
- A quiet corner ready for skin-to-skin and the first feed
If you are planning a water birth
- Confirm pool rental or purchase with your midwife’s preferred model
- Test inflation, liner, hose and water temperature plan ahead of time
- Know where the pool will sit, how you will fill and empty it, and who helps
Partner and support-person checklist
Birth partners often want a job. The best job is usually presence: water, encouragement, advocacy and knowing when to call for help.
- Know where supplies live and how to reach the midwife without searching.
- Practice comfort measures your team recommends: hip squeezes, cool cloths, counter-pressure.
- Protect the room from phone calls, visitors and unnecessary noise.
- Eat and drink yourself. You cannot pour from an empty cup.
- Keep the hospital bag by the door even for a planned home birth.
- Write down questions as they come up so you can ask them in a calm moment.
Read our guide for partners and families
Two weeks before your due date
- Finish gathering supplies and walk through the birth space together.
- Confirm childcare, pet care and who has a house key.
- Review transfer directions in daylight and at night.
- Wash baby clothes and towels; stage pads and waterproof layers.
- Pack a small postpartum basket: pads, underwear, snacks, phone charger, nipple cream if recommended.
- Ask your midwife what to text or call for early labor versus urgent concerns.
When labor begins
- Rest, eat and drink while contractions are manageable.
- Dim the lights, put on music and protect the mattress before things intensify.
- Call your midwife according to their instructions, not according to panic.
- Ask visitors to wait until invited. Your nervous system needs quiet trust.
- Keep the birth plan flexible. The goal is a healthy parent and baby, wherever that unfolds.
Talk through hospital transfer before labor day
After the birth
- Protect uninterrupted skin-to-skin unless your team needs to assess baby.
- Have snacks, water and a soft nest ready for the first feed.
- Know who will handle laundry, meals and older children for the first days.
- Write down newborn and postpartum warning signs your midwife reviews with you.
- Schedule or confirm follow-up visits before everyone is exhausted.
A gentle reminder
Preparation is love in practical form. It is not a guarantee that birth will follow a script. The families who feel steadiest usually prepare their space, trust their team and leave room for the unexpected.
Find South Carolina home birth practices
Is home birth right for us? · All Start here guides · Suggest a correction