After my first c-section I used the traditional maternity pads and thought they were a bit useless. Didn't stay in place, blood on sheets etc.

this time round I was wondering whether I should just use the heavy duty / night time sanitary towels with wings, they are more comfy and might actually stay in place.

Anyone tried them?

I did, they were much better tbh, although i didnt tak ethe right maternity pads (i took the thin ones) I had no idea it would be so heavy!

Maternity pads IMO as I needed the padding!!! D

I found the heavy duty sanitary pads far better but I had a c section and no stitching. I've been told by people that have had stitches, that the maternity pads are a lot softer on the fadge!

The midwife in the labor ward gave me a huge lecture.. told me that my winged pads were not the thing to wear after childbith

like you .. I found they moved about, leaked, were really uncomfortable and generaly made a huge mess

Second day I switched back to my wings... they were sooo much better

horrible even to think about, but if you buy paper pants a size up you can get 2 of the maternity pads in side by side...i did this for the first 36 hours or so (or until i'd used up my paper pants) and then switched to always ultra with wings.

actually, it will be a c-section again this time so I won't have to worry about soft pads. I think i will try the sanitary towels and change back to mat pads if they don't work.

I used always ultra night time ones after both births.

purple allways, irrc

The reason why hospitals want you to wear mat pads is so they can monitor your blood loss... proper (and better ) STs soak up far more and "hide" it IYSWIM.

In other words, STs are better, maternity pads are generally rubbish, but for a reason

oh, nell thats quite useful to know. Maybe mat pads in hospital, they are the ones washing the sheets after all. Then san towels at home.

I was told to use two mat pads together (one on top of the other) and I've actually stuck to that at night even when I reverted to normal pads. Seemed to work for me .

2 c/s for me and used the always ultra nighttime san pads too, they worked fine.

Second time the midwife was helping me to change pad in bed and said i can see you've done this before with good sized pads!

If you have stitches due to an episiotomy then I can recommend maternity pads. They're so thick it's like sitting on cushions.
I tried ultra sanitary towels shortly after the birth and found it really painful to sit down as they were so thin. Also my stitches felt like they were forever catching on the absorbent covering.
My tip for straight after the birth is to put an ultra pad in your pants, then put a maternity pad on top of it. You'll look like you've laid an egg in your pants, but you'll be comfy and won't leak everywhere.

There is a reason why you shouldnt wear sanitary pads, the plastic backing is not good for your healing. If you have had an episiotomy, or you have stitches, you need to heal, and you need air. It gets too damp with sanitary pads, and you may get an infection.

kotex night time pads in black packet were the most comfy IMO. Nice and thick, no leakage.

Quintessentialshadows has hit the nail on the head - I have been told (several times now and by different MWs) not to use anything platic backed for the first few days until th bleeding has settled a bit - this is regardless of whether you have had stitches or not - your 'bits' need to breathe

TENNA LADY - the mega duty ones. Nice and soft, stay in place etc. They are the best defo imo.

dont use sanitary towels as they have a plastic backing which can encourage infections (i know to my cost). the best i found was tescos (boots were dire and leaked) as they were nicely padded and fabulously absorbant. have already started stocking up this time round.

I used the heavy duty always type, but then again my bleeding wasn't excessive, was quite containable after the first few hours.

You should use the maternity pads really, so you can keep an eye on your loss. If you use the throw away knickers, put two through the loop in them, they usually work pretty well.
I think using the maternity pads in hospital are the best idea.

maternity pads, they are specifically designed for this.

Yeh - I used the maternity pads for a bit - but needed something for about a month and just couldn't stand them for that long - the tenna lady ones seemed much more discrete and safe iykwim?

Am I the only one who finds those modern dry layer sanitary towels really itchy? Probably.

I used the really cheap sanitary pads for the first 2 days after my CS, I wasnt moving about much anyway and was VEry heavy. Went through them really quick so was pleased i only spent about 30p a pack. When i was up and about i used good nighttime sanitary towels!

Always ultra with wings.. midwives referred to maternity pads as door stops which didn't help... seriously, night time strength with old knickers that could be thrown out were fine after 3 normnal deliveries (one with 2nd degree tear: yuck..) Mat pads too thick and reminiscent of sanitary towels to be worn with loops from vending machine at school

I used adult nappies - didn't have a cs but had stitches - not sure if I was supposed to, but no infection and meant I could get rid of catheter.

Maternity pads not great but at least I understand why now. I avoided Always etc as get a sort of 'nappy rash' with plastic towels during my period anyway, so used the heaviest possible cotton Natracare towels - you can get them from health food shop/Waitrose. Still too thin for the first few days so I wd use in combo with mat pads.

Used maternity pads while in hospital, (heck if they're free ) and one pack of Mothercare Maternity pads at home. Then switched to massive nighttime towels, think they were ones someone mentioned already, in a black packet. I had stiches but wasn't bothered by them.

TIP: make sure your partner knows what towels to get you, should you need to send them out desperatly as you've used your stash up. Checking I had enough towels was the last thing on my mind, having just given birth, so DH popped to Tesco. Came back with superslim ones!