What Goes in an Emergency Birth Kit?

Emergency Delivery Kit List

A phone and power bank with a charging cable. Your birth partner will need to call emergency services and get paramedics on the way to your location. They will also need a professional to talk them through the steps of delivering a child.

A shower curtain and supply of clean bed sheets. Layer a shower curtain and a clean bedsheet on a bed, sofa, or the floor to create a birthing area. 

Disposable gloves. Your birth partner will need to wear gloves to prevent passing bacteria from their hands to you when delivering the baby. This will also protect you from direct contact with body fluids.

Antibacterial soap. Your partner will need to have clean hands when assisting you with delivery. Ensure you have some antibacterial soap ready to wash your hands before and after using disposable gloves.

Hand sanitiser. You might need to consider the possibility of being far from clean running water. Keeping some hand sanitiser in your kit means your partner can clean their hands regardless of access to a sink with soap and water.

A collection of clean, dry towels. Use a towel to dry off the baby after skin-to-skin contact with the mother. Another towel should be used to wrap the baby up and keep them warm. Towels are also useful for soaking up fluids, so it’s good to have a few ready.

A bulb syringe. The baby’s airways could be congested when it’s born, and you may need to use a bulb syringe to clear them. If you are being talked through delivery, the call handler will tell you how to check the airways and how to use the bulb syringe if you need to. St John’s Ambulance explains how to do a primary survey for a newborn baby, including checking the clear airways.

Umbilical cord clamps and umbilical cord scissors. You might need to cut the umbilical cord if you know help won’t arrive for a long time or if the call handler helping guide you through delivery has told you to. Keeping a set of clamps and scissors in your kit is a great idea, just in case. The clamps and scissors we sell are part of the equipment used in maternity wards in real hospitals. You can also use shoelaces and normal scissors in a pinch.

Rubbing Alcohol and cotton wool balls. Use isopropyl alcohol to sterilise tools such as your scissors and clamps to clean the umbilical cord, and sanitise your hands in a pinch.

Waste disposal bags. Following birth, the afterbirth will need to be checked by a medical professional to ensure it is intact. When the afterbirth comes out, place it in a waste disposal bag and tie it shut to take it with you. Once the mother is ready, move her off of the sheet and shower curtain, roll them up and place them in a bag along with any used towels to take with you too.