There tends to be a lot of focus on preparing for birth that we may forget that there is a postpartum period too!
While Amazon prime is usually most frequented at 2 am the early days postpartum to buy that thing that promises relief, it still takes some to arrive! Having a few helpful items around can make postpartum recovery a little bit easier.
Here is what I am gathering as I prepare for my own postpartum this fall!
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My Top Postpartum Care Items to Prep!
As I prepare for my own postpartum, I like to categorize what activities I will need more support during and prioritize what items I need to gather before birth.
Things I find I need extra support during postpartum include:
- Postpartum Pain Relief
- Perineal/Scar Care
- Breastfeeding and Feeding Baby Support
This list is unique to what I find I need postpartum after having two kids and preparing for our third birth! So, please know that you do NOT need to buy everything on this list and there may be things that you find are more useful for you postpartum!
Early Postpartum Support Course
1) My Top Postpartum Pain Relief Items
Crampbark Tinctures and OTC to manage postpartum cramping
If you didn’t know, and now you can’t say I didn’t warn you, you will experience cramping for several days postpartum. This cramping is similar to menstrual cramps, but I find them a little more intense!
I find postpartum is harder for me than pregnancy and birth, so I like to have some pain relief aids readily available to manage my pain with cramps!
I try not to overly rely on over-the-counter pain relief, because I will be taking them for a few days, but I don’t avoid them altogether either because they can be fairly effective!
My provider prescribed me over-the-counter pain medication before I was discharged from the hospital, and it was readily available during the stay of my first birth, so I don’t think you need to necessarily have a stockpile! And your provider may prescribe a stronger pain medication depending on your birth and your pain relief requirements.
In addition to any pain relief recommendations from my provider, I also like to add on a tincture that supports pain relief from cramping too!
Heating Pad to manage postpartum cramping
Another thing that I used to manage discomfort from postpartum cramping was a heating pad!
I even used it during labor, so it was a double win!
I place the heating pad on my lower abdomen, either by tucking it into my belly band or reclining with it against my belly.
This helped a ton with pain relief postpartum!
Belly Band for gentle compression and support
We love belly bands for initial healing postpartum! The gentle compression can help a ton with pain relief and also provides some stabilization if you need to be more up on your feet.
There are so many great brands to choose from! Some of our favorites are:
- Bao Bei (use code MAMASTEFIT for 15% off, plus their compression garments include perineal support)
- It’s Bodily (one of my favorites to gift to my c-section clients)
- Mamastrut (Sometimes covered by your insurance and also provides perineal support) Use code MAMASTEFIT15 for 15% off
Bao Bei support bloomers
Roxanne used the Bao Bei support bloomer and Mamastrut primarily during her last postpartum, and I used the Mamastrut. I plan to use a combination of the three depending on the demand I have for the day for about 1-3 weeks postpartum.
2) Perineal and Scar Care Items
Perineal Spray
Both of my previous births have had different healing requirements of my perineum! My first birth, I had an episiotomy, so was definitely more intensive with the items I needed to support my perineal healing. But my second birth, I barely had a tear.
With both, I found a perineal spray to be really helpful with soothing the perineum after using the restroom and throughout the day.
Perineal Numbing Foam/Spray
If you have a vaginal tear, a numbing foam or spray can be really helpful to manage discomfort postpartum in the perineum.
After my first birth, my provider prescribed me epifoam while I was still in the hospital, which helped a ton! For my second birth, I had dermaplast on hand in case I needed it but ended up not needing it since I didn’t really tear.
Perineal Cleansing Supplies
A peribottle is a must!! I prefer the ones that are more angled as opposed to a bottle, but usually you can get a free bottle from your birth location to use as a peribottle.
I really liked the angle peribottle that can be used upside down after my last birth, and have one prepared for this postpartum too! Brands such as Love Steady (Use code MAMASTEFIT) and itsbodily, have an angled peribottle design!
I plan to have a little basket of bathroom support items for early postpartum that I’ll keep my peribottle in, plus any other bathroom support items such as pads, disposable underwear, ice packs, and my perineal spray.
3) Breastfeeding/Feeding Support Items
Nipple Discomfort Relief: Silverettes & Soothing Nipple Balm
My first breastfeeding journey was incredibly challenging the first few weeks as I dealt with nipple damage from a poor latch and trying to figure it out with my newborn!
So, I definitely became a pro at managing nipple discomfort and soreness when breastfeeding.
Some helpful items I have on hand to prep for breastfeeding include:
- Silverettes
- Nipple Balm
- Happy Ducts Tincture
- Sunflower Lechin
- Breast Pads (Roxanne leaked breastmilk a lot and always had to wear pads the first few months)
Silverettes can help heal nipple damage. We would describe them as magic for your nipples! Silver has healing properties, and is even used in bandages for burn victims because of the healing capability! The good news is they last forever, so you can use the same set for multiple postpartum periods!
A soothing nipple balm can help if you don’t want to wear the silver cups! I love the Mother Love brand because you don’t need to wipe it off before nursing.
Another point of discomfort for me was clogged ducts due to a poor latch or milk removal at times, so having some supplements on hand to address clogged ducts was super helpful!
Happy ducts tincture was recommended to me by my midwife during my last birth, so I like to have a bottle on hand just in case I need it!
Support Pillows and Props
Having a lot of physical support can make feeding and holding baby much more comfortable! I have used the Boppy in previous postpartum periods, but have really been loving the My Breastfriend Support pillow for this upcoming postpartum.
Having a great babywearing sling and carrier also can help a ton with holding and carrying baby around. I’ve got a few slings (the type of carrier I love for the newborn days, use code GINA10 for a discount on a Wildbird Baby sling) and some more structured carriers for when baby is a little bigger and we are more outside of the house.
Engorgement Relief: Heating Packs and Haakaa
After a few days postpartum, your mature milk comes in and you may experience engorgement! This is super uncomfortable and sort of painful! Engorgement can also make it harder for baby to latch, since they massage the breast to get milk out.
I found some heating pads or a hot shower to help with engorgement while I hand expressed some milk out for some relief helped a lot. But sometimes cold can feel better too! Bao Bei has some great cooling and warming pads in their breastfeeding kit! You can either throw them in the fridge or heat them up depending on your needs!
Another tool I found useful was the Haakaa! This is a manual silicone pump that you can apply some gentle suction to help with some relief from engorgement.
The goal is just to get your breast soft enough for baby to latch without doing an entire pumping session (which could stimulate TOO much milk supply).
The Haakaa can also catch extra milk while you are nursing on the other side to start to build a small stash should you need it!
They also just released a similar item called the ladybug that fits nicely into your bra that would be a great addition to help catch any letdown!
Clothing: Nursing Pads, Nursing Tank Tops and Bras
Comfortable clothing is a must postpartum! For me, I needed clothes that were easy to nurse in, but still covered my body. I prefer to wear bras and have clothing on, so nursing tank tops were a great option for me!
Since I plan to bring my kids to the gym, grabbing a few good nursing sports bras were helpful too for me! I found some really great quality ones on Amazon that have lasted me for several years!
And with nursing, there is usually a lot of leaking that happens the first few weeks/months, so nursing pads were a must as well!