Hi to all you mamas out there, and thanks in advance for any help you can offer! I am about to have my second homebirth with a nurse-midwife - the first was wonderful. My only disappointment was a lack of a way to accurately weigh our son after he was born. He weighed about 8 lbs- we weighed my husband and then him and the baby and subtracted, but we didn't get pounds and ounces. This is a small thing, I know. Not a big deal if we don't figure it out, and not worth $60 to buy a baby scale. Does anyone have any (cheap) ideas on how to weigh the new baby, or maybe a scale I could borrow? I would be willing to pay you for your trouble. Thanks!
I attended my sister in laws home birth. The way that they weighed their newborn was using a spring scale. There was a cloth pouch that they put the baby in and they hung that from the spring scale. It looked kind of like what a butcher would use to weigh a piece of meat.
My midwife had a portable scale with a hook and wrapped my daughter in a blanket, tied the top into a knot and hung it from the scale about 3inches above the bed. This gave us her weight.
I had my baby through the nurse midwives at Family Centered Maternity Care in Garland, and when she was born, they let me take home a baby scale thing that's kind of like a pouch that you pick the baby up in and get the weight. You might ask your midwife about that and see if they know where you can get one, or even if you could borrow one for a few days.
Hi L.
I am a doula and planning a home birth any day now--and all the midiwves I have worked with always have a scale they bring to the births. I am quite puzzled why your midwife did not have one!! :) I would definitely ask ask her about this---maybe she did not have one then--but has one now?? Or maybe she can borrow one from another midwife if she does not have her own. I too would be frustrated if having my baby at home meant I could not get an accurate weight on them right away--and who wants to go out and measure ANY where else with a newborn, right after giving birth?? Not me!!
This is the one that I have seen used the most at home births--they are called sling scales and is the kind my midwife will be using at my birth.
http://midwifesupplies.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY...
http://www.birthwithlove.com/categories/itempage.asp?prod...+
They are accurate ( at one birth we questioned if the baby really could be as big as the scale said and measured a 5 lb bag of sugar to make sure it was right!!), easy to transport and one of the fun things I like that midwives carry!
Hope this helps!
L. S.
A little about me: Local area doula and admin. Dir. at the American Pregnancy Association-- Pretty much everything I do revolves around pregnancy! My husband and I are expecting our first in May--right now we only have furry kids...3 of them!
If your midwife has an office, I bet she wouldn't mind you bringing the baby in to check his weight on days when she is there and doing appointments anyway!
I have heard of moms using the produce scale in the grocery store, but I never did that myself. LOL
L., I do have a baby scale here at my home that you could borrow. I would definitely want it back, of course, but if you want to borrow it for your birth, let me know.
you are welcome to bring the new baby to The Nesting Place, we have a scale here that we can weigh him with and give you lbs and oz's.
K.
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L.,
the last home bierth I attended the midwife had a scale. Ask your midwife if she has purchased one. Also, I hope you have a doula there with you!
L.
I had a homebirth and my midwife brought a scale with her. Would that be someone your midwife would be willing to do?
