Cleaning Up: My Checklist

Standing in front of her deep laundry tub, the cement floor beneath my socked feet is as cold as the frozen earth outside.  A ten gallon bucket full of dirty towels, a set of queen size sheets and night gown awaits my attention.  The battery powered lantern I brought with me casts shadows all around. Latex gloved hands work quickly to accomplish the task. 

Typical Amish laundry tub, wringer and spinner.

My post-birth laundering takes me to a variety of types of wash rooms.  Dark empty basements full of spiders with just a garden hose for water.  Bright sun filled, well organized and perfectly clean laundry rooms one step out of the main living area.  Vanity sinks that are too small to hold the bulky towel I am wrestling to rinse, without flooding the floor.  Bathtubs that cause my back to ache from leaning over to get to the spigot.  This folks is the adventure of home
birth.  Each set up different, most without electricity, all with their unique challenges. 

Have you ever doused a bloody towel with hydrogen peroxide?  It bubbles and foams like a mini volcano.  My boys would love this, well until they realize its birth blood. Cold water rinses out the blood, hot water for the meconium (black tarry baby's first poo) stains.  Tomorrow the new mama’s “maid” will come to help with the actual washing of this load.

My great great Grandmother Annie Kaufman tended the birthing and dying of her rural Amish and Mennonite community.  The thought of her distracts me, and for a moment we work side by side set to the task. Once spot cleaned, I scrub, wring out and set it to soak.  Treating all post-birth laundry is one of the jobs on my Birth Assistant check list. 

My other tasks following a birth?  You would likely guess things like tidying the birth room, cleaning and dressing the baby, restocking the midwife’s bag.  There are also clerical responsibilities of charting, filling out forms for birth certificate, and newspaper announcements. Sometimes I sit bedside and do some teaching- what to expect in the next 24 hours, how to care for the newborn and mother. 

One of my favorites is fixing the post-birth feast.  Pancakes, peanut and butter sandwich, reheating leftovers with a side of fruit, yogurt and juice.  I regularly hear my fried eggs and buttered toast are the best.  My ego takes that with a grain of salt, almost anything will taste amazing after a birth.   

If you check my resume I am far over qualified for my job of cleaning, cooking and laundry.  Being over qualified though, doesn't make it less enjoyable.  My attention to detail allows a new mother and father to rest and enjoy their new baby instead of tidying the house. My extra set of hands gives time for the midwife to focus on the clinical postpartum details. A birth assistant is a part of a team.  A team with a worthy goal. And it makes all the scrubbing and soaking worthwhile.