Sanitary Towels

[Wilsey]

Here our hospital supplies them while you're in hospital. I got told by friends who had babies before me, to 'take some' home with me. They're better than anything I can buy on the shelves here! Naughty but hey

 

[Blah11]

Honestly you need the huge maternity pads for the first couple of days then you can start switching to heavy flow sanitary pads. You bleed looooads.

 

[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

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!

hah, me neither I hate sanitary towels more than anything, a so hate feeling wet and dirty down there, but I'd be too scared to try a tampon right after labour. I heard some women do though. TBH I was in two minds about using them after 6wks when I got my period, but it was only because I hated pads so much that I did

Honestly you need the huge maternity pads for the first couple of days then you can start switching to heavy flow sanitary pads. You bleed looooads.

my blood loss has never been too bad; I expected it to be a lot worse, but it was more or less a regular period from the second day or so after labour. But I never thought "woah this blood loss is insane"

 

[sue_88]

Honestly you need the huge maternity pads for the first couple of days then you can start switching to heavy flow sanitary pads. You bleed looooads.

my blood loss has never been too bad; I expected it to be a lot worse, but it was more or less a regular period from the second day or so after labour. But I never thought "woah this blood loss is insane"

Same. But I still definitely think 'maternity' pads are needed for the cushioning alone.

With an easy birth and just a minor tear I still felt like my vagina had been obliterated by a steam train. They were cushiony to sit on and just lessen the pressure pain feeling. Even if no tears the swelling will be immense for a day or so!

 

[Foxy37]

Boots use to do a maternity pad and it was huge, thick and long. I would use 2 at a time but they worked wonders. That was a long time ago so this time I've got night time towles but I agree with the poster that said about big thick ones as they are comfy against the skin especially if you have stitches xxxx

 

[Blah11]

First couple of days I was changing the big mat pads every hour! I was bf and on the move a lot after my son with my dd to look after. Guess its one of those things that aren't spoken about so you have no idea what's normal.

 

[Lara310809]

I agree Blah; I had NO idea what to expect, so I was pleasantly surprised when I had less blood loss than I thought. After my second labour I had more loss, from chasing my eldest I suppose, but the benefit of that was that the bleed only lasted 3 weeks instead of the 4 weeks it had been with my first labour I have heavy periods anyway (where I'd change even the biggest tampons every hour for the first couple of days), so perhaps that's why the loss wasn't so bad in comparison; I'm not sure. I also change the pads really frequently; I usually use tampons because I hate that wet feeling, so I was constantly in the bathroom getting a fresh one

And I TOTALLY agree that the maternity pads offer great padding. I have had stitches both times, and unable to sit down comfortably for the first three or four days, and while out and about, where there aren't any soft sofas, I found them a welcome help. Without the extra padding I doubt I'd have been able to sit down at all

 

[Pearls18]

First couple of days I was changing the big mat pads every hour! I was bf and on the move a lot after my son with my dd to look after. Guess its one of those things that aren't spoken about so you have no idea what's normal.

My bleeding was really heavy too I can't believe how light some people are, I actually bled until 7 weeks although obviously by that point it was very little.

 

[pipsbabybean]

I'm just throwing this in here, I did notice some one mention tena on the first page, I had some given to me and I used them for dd, them were great and I've actually bought them again for this time, they are wide and long and very thick and comfy and cheap to, I bought off eBay this time as they were cheaper again but asda do them at a good price,
I tried other types as well but these were by far the best,

 

[waitingfor]

I tried switching to the big Always pads after a week of using maternity pads but I got really bad thrush from the chemicals. The maternity pads are much comfier too.

Does anybody know of any maternity pads that have wings? I only used ASDA and Boots ones last time and I changed them every hour or so but really needed ones with wings

 

[c.m.c]

Please please whatever you buy make sure they're maternity pads and not sanitary towels.


Sanitary towels are scented, will absorb too much and will mask any signs (blood loss amount) and smells of infection!!

I learned this the horrible way when I was re admitted to hospital when dd was 11 days old

 

[claudinator]

Oh my goodness thank god for this thread, I was going to buy loads of always night. I'm getting my c section on the 10th of December thanks for the warning I'm a FTM. And am so glad I read this.

 

[Amy89]

Question, how many would you say you used over the 2 weeks PP? Gonna just buy a load when I go to town tomorrow!

 

[c.m.c]

My flow wasn't that heavy and stopped early enough, hence the infection.

I think it's good to change every 2hrs at the start to reduce infection etc? Not sure but I plan to buy enough to change regular in the early days

 

[sue_88]

Question, how many would you say you used over the 2 weeks PP? Gonna just buy a load when I go to town tomorrow!

I think I got through about 10-12 packets of the Boots Maternity pads so 120!

I bought 40 before Millie was due and needed to buy more on Day 4.

 

[Amy89]

I'm gonna have to get them in 2-3 shops! No way am I buying 12 packs of maternity pads in one shop LOL x

 

[hels08]

the bleeding from after a baby is sooooooooooo different from a period so testing with water or what works for you normally really wont don much good, for the first few days you're gonns need just the biggest and thickest you can find, sorry to be crude but theres a whole heap of gunk that comes out of there lol! after first few days then normal pads will probably do the job ok x

 

[bunnyg82]

Definitely the bulky maternity pads for the first few days then I think the purple always night time with wings are great

 

[Lara310809]

Question, how many would you say you used over the 2 weeks PP? Gonna just buy a load when I go to town tomorrow!

each time I've used around 50 pads, or around 1 of the Mothercare packs; but over the ENTIRE postpartum loss. I actually think I gave away 1/3 of the pack after my last pregnancy because I used less than the pack; and I used them through the entire loss; so around 4 weeks each time.

I'd advise you to only buy a pack at a time; you can always get someone to pop to the shops again if you're running low. If you go over the top and buy loads, then you might be left with an excess afterwards that you then have to give to someone else.