"Boil lots of water and bring plenty of clean towels." Why?

I always thought the boiling water was to sanitize something (I don’t know what) and the towels were for the blood and for wiping off the baby. Or I also kind of thought that boiling the water was for mixing with cool water to have warm water to wash the baby off with.

It’s to get the idiot out of the room.

Find the person who is panicking the most & will most likely be in the way & ask that person to boil water & rip up some sheets. It keeps them busy & out of the way. It calms them because they feel like they are contributing.

I think the purpose of boiling the water was to have sterile water to use for cleaning baby and mom. The linens are to wrap the infant in and to use for cleaning both patients. This is how I’ve rationalized it anyway.

Maybe the water is to sanitise the area where the woman is giving birth. Although, I’m pretty sure the hospital floor where I gave birth wasn’t that sanitary. I always thought the towels were to soak up all the blood and other unsavoury products of birth, and to wrap the baby in when it arrives.

Props. Purely props.

I read this article a while back about someone giving birth at home under the direction of an emergency services operator. It includes the transcript of the 999 call, and if you scroll down you will see the operator instructs the caller to find plenty of clean towels. No boiled water though!

I just read the whole thing and it made me tear up! It’s pretty amazing.

Have you ever seen anybody in a movie actually use the hot water? or even ask what it’s for? Do you think the scriptwriters know?

Nope, nope, and nope! Here is something I found browsing on the matter:

Still, I have learned a thing or two this past week with the help of About’s knowledgeable Pregnancy and Childbirth Guide Robin Weiss – a certified doula, not to mention the proud mother of three healthy children. She has been very patient with me.

In our first conversation she set me straight regarding a misconception I got from the movies when I was a kid. Remember how, in old westerns, the doc would always holler “Quick! Boil some water!” whenever a woman was about to give birth? Well, it turns out that while it may not have been purely a cinematic invention, the value of boiling-hot water in childbirth is and always has been questionable, and certainly more on the order of a folk belief than a medical fact.

“Many people believe that this was to sterilize something – what, I’m not sure,” Robin told me. “Home birth midwives now do have sterile equipment, but just a few pieces that are rarely needed.”

According to an old joke in midwifery circles, the order to go boil some water was mainly a ploy to get the husband out of the room for a good long time, since in those days a fire had to be built, water collected from the well and so on before the kettle could even be put on the stove. By the time the water finally simmered, the baby was already wailing in its mother’s arms and the father was still on his feet. source

Just found this:

“Many people believe that this was to sterilize something – what, I’m not sure,” Robin told me. “Home birth midwives now do have sterile equipment, but just a few pieces that are rarely needed.”

According to an old joke in midwifery circles, the order to go boil some water was mainly a ploy to get the husband out of the room for a good long time, since in those days a fire had to be built, water collected from the well and so on before the kettle could even be put on the stove. By the time the water finally simmered, the baby was already wailing in its mother’s arms and the father was still on his feet.

On the other hand, warm water does have its applications in childbirth, so it’s possible the point all along was merely to heat the stuff up to a useful temperature. Sometimes the simplest explanation is also the likeliest.

Goodnight for real, this time.

@MissA We clearly browse in the same circles!

@jeanmay Or, clearly circle in the same browser!

Goodnight, Little Toots.

The shit they pull eh.Just movies doing what they do, ie making stuff up as they go along. I’d ask for rubber gloves & a hose too.So as to embelish the pretence further.Oh & a catchers mitt, better safe than sorry.

I always thought that the boiling water was to get someone out of the way, and for tea when all the excitement was over.
The linens, well birthing babies can be kind of messy.

Your question reminds me of the actors on Days Of Our Lives. if you will notice, they have nothing to do with their hands, so they are pouring something into a cup or glass, anything to keep their hands occupied. they rarely take a drink. i believe this is just for show, just like boiling water and clean towels.

When you deliver a baby in the backseat of a police car, all you may have is a pair of gloves and some newspaper. no boiling water or clean towels here.

Good question.

The water…no reason at all. The towels would be for the baby I assume.

Boiling? I thought they asked for Hot water.
Anyway, I guess they used towels dipped in water to wash the baby and the mother And to keep the birthing fluids off the beds. Who would want their bed soaked in blood?

I remember my mother telling me about her children being born. They boiled water, soaked towels in it and the hot towels were placed on the personal area to ease the pain, and help relax the cervical area. Mother told me was always concerned that the tops of the babies heads were going to be burned, but she said it really worked.