Sanitary Towels

[Creative]

There is so much choice about and nowhere does it tell you which ones to choose for afterwards.
I decided to run some tests myself and bought the
Aldi night time pads
Asda maternity pads
Helen Hunt Night time pads (home bargains)
Kotex night time pads

I then tipped on a measure of water, left for a minute and picked up the pad to observe for drips. The Asda and Alsi pads were the poorest, followed by Kotex. The Helen Hunt ones held the most for the longest and appeared nice and soft. I shall see how well my experiment works once baby arrives.

Has anyone else done a similar experiment?

 

[Dragonfly]

for after birth bleeding the cheaper ones I found where better even in the hospital they said that. I got the asda maturity pads. but ended up with thrush from them as usual so went back to cloth after the heaviness laid off. Think it was tesco ones I used in previous after births.

 

[sherple]

No but from past experience i will only use the always ultra super ones. (purple pack) Ive tried others and have always leaked. Hate maternity ones too as theyre so bulky.

 

[Girly922]

I picked up some cheap superdrug maternity ones but they're huge!! So, for the first few days of heavy bleeding I picked up some tena lady discreet. Figured I'd see how they go.

 

[Creative]

have to say that in the past I've found the larger pads more comfortable for the first few days

 

[drudai]

I have been told by many many women that the Always overnight with wings are the best because you have complete coverage. I haven't used pads since middle school though so I haven't had to test it myself lately.

 

[Pearls18]

For the first few days when my bleeding was very heavy (sorry for tmi but I'm talking clotting) I used the cheap but massive industrial ones that are like an inch thick close to nappies lol, I think they were asda, no way would ordinary sanitary towels (not even night ones) would have worked unless I changed it every 20 mins! I can't remember when but I think I only used one of those packs then managed to switch to just always ones. It's worth remembering if someone is going to be BF bleeding can be a bit heavier as feeding will cause the uterus to contract back down quicker, resulting in heavier bleeding in the first days, so think big to start lol. Then I found after that it was just like a period, but a long one unfortunately!!

 

[Pearls18]

have to say that in the past I've found the larger pads more comfortable for the first few days

Yeah they act like a bit of a cushion for sitting down too which is nice after a vaginal delivery lol!

 

[angelandbump]

I never tried experimenting like that but it's useful to know.

I rarely get periods due to having PCOS but when I do, I am ridiculously heavy and after giving birth to my son, the flow was the same so I used the always ultra night pads and never leaked once but I had no stitches or tears etc, you may find a thicker pad is better for cushioning if you have any damage below.

X

 

[whittnie117]

I haven't done any experiments, but my period was REALLY, really, really heavy all my life and I would bleed for around 10-15 days (sometimes more), most of which was the heavy bleeding. I soaked a pad an hour (sometimes more). The only thing I found that worked overnight was a new Always overnight pad. Anything I used ever before leaked badly. They are Always Maxi Extra Heavy Overnight Pads with Wings. HUGE, but had full coverage and I think those will work better than any others out there. That's what I am going to go with. Try your experiment with them. They probably will work for the heaviest times, but I'm not joking when I say they are big.

 

[PuddlePuppy]

with DD I used the purple ultra night ones and they where fine, also where fine after my d&c I had last year and the period from hell I had afterwards... so I have brought a couple of packs of those and if I need to 'upgrade' to mat pads I will...

 

[lotuspetals]

One of my friends said she actually used adult diapers (like Depends) for the first days at home. Said she just couldn't trust pads with the amount of flow she had.

If you're not too concerned with your dignity, adult diapers, then pads may be the way to go. I think that might be what I end up doing.

 

[Lara310809]

I haven't read the other replies, but if you have stitches after your labour, it's really important not to use standard sanitary towels or incontinence towels, because they are designed to take the moisture (blood or pee) away from the skin, and when you have stitches that can delay the healing process. I was told to only use maternity towels. Also don't use tampons until your first postpartum period; not the initial blood loss after the labour

I have always used the Mothercare maternity pads, and they're great IMO. we live abroad, and we have a mothercare here, but we don't have Boots or anything here, so they're actually the only place you can buy maternity pads, but I've used them after two different labours and I have no complaints. Now they've brought out the ones with wings, even better!

 

[sue_88]

I used Boots Maternity Pads....they were nice and thick and never leaked but I didn't bleed much.

I think I used them for about 2 weeks, after 3 days I tried to switch to Always nighttime as they were less bulky but sitting down was still painful even though I felt fine so I switched back to the thicker ones, in the end it was only after about 2 weeks I felt comfortable sitting on any surface with a thin pad.

Normal delivery with minor tear.

 

[Pearls18]

I haven't read the other replies, but if you have stitches after your labour, it's really important not to use standard sanitary towels or incontinence towels, because they are designed to take the moisture (blood or pee) away from the skin, and when you have stitches that can delay the healing process. I was told to only use maternity towels. Also don't use tampons until your first postpartum period; not the initial blood loss after the labour

Gosh I couldn't think of anything worse than trying to use tampons after labour!

I didn't realise that about the stitches that's interesting, when my dissolvable stitch (I only had one lol) wouldn't heal I used to lie on my bed (on a towel) and let it air for 10 mins or so after a bath, it cleared up very quickly once I started doing that, it is important to let birthing wounds air but not always the easiest thing to do, especially with a new born to care for!

 

[Creative]

Will get some always night time tomorrow when I go shopping

 

[Mummy Bean]

I used boots own brand. They have super thick ones for first few days then slimer ones for after.

The super thick one deff good for adding cushioning down below.

 

[elociN]

I used Always Ultra for the heaviest few days and then the normal night ones and the purple packet ones (heavy flow day ones) - also Always. I have used them after all my births and also tried mat pads and other brands of sanitary towels but found Always the best.

 

[whittnie117]

Will get some always night time tomorrow when I go shopping

They're the purple pack, not the orange. The orange are too small I think.

 

[Gemie]

You're not meant to use normal pads right after birth as they draw the blood away and the hospital sometimes like to monitor bleeding etc incase of infection.

I was told always to use the maternity specific ones for the first week at least.