Birth and postpartum tips

[FolkyFoxFace]

I'm due over the next few weeks/days/hours, and I was wondering what everyone's birth and postpartum tips are?

I'm planning a homebirth with a pool, and I'd like to breastfeed. I've done a few antenatal classes on zoom, and tried to read up as much as I can...but any extra advice or experience would be great! Doesn't matter if they're not homebirth specific, although I'd love to hear about that too.

Things like when should I shower initially without interrupting skin to skin, when will they stitch me up, how is the placenta delivered, etc. I've tried reading up but never find much, my midwife talks about the practicalities, my sister had elective C-sections so her experiences are different (she also stayed in hospital for a while so she says she doesn't want to give me bum advice), so any knowledge would be great.

Postpartum wise, I've got plenty of good big knickers, pads, Spritz for your Bits (or whatever it's called!), and done loads of batch cooking. I've bought some nice treaty bits for myself like chocolate, Netflix, hand cream, and a flask thing to keep my tea warm.

Am I missing essentials though? I had some lovely advice about treaty stuff, so now I'm obviously panicking that I don't have enough essentials. 😂

Hey! I’m not an expert as I’ve only the one baby but as he’s only 2 weeks old I’ll share what I can freshly remember ☺️
Placenta came out within 10 mins of baby, they offered me the injection in my leg to speed it up which I took.
They started to stitch me up once we’d had some skin to skin, baby was checked over quickly and wrapped up and given to dad. Id probably say within an hour of birth? They said I could hold him throughout if I wanted but I let dad have cuddles, I’m glad as the anaesthetic stings so i needed gas and air puffs.
After that I had a bath quick.
Birth was at 10pm and think everything was done with me/baby around 1/2am. I did have to wait a while for a doctor to do some of my stitches though as I also had a small clitoris tear (worse part!) and midwife said she didn’t want to do that part wrong.
Other than what you’ve got id also recommend buying a Peri bottle if you haven’t already. Used it to spray warm water onto my bits as I was peeing for the first few days and it really helps reduce stinging by diluting your wee. Also good for helping clean the blood off as you can’t wipe properly if you have stitches.
If you’ve got any more specific questions let me know!

Oh and breastfeeding nearly broke me the first few days until my milk came in, he never seemed satisfied and fed constantly. It’s a lot better now. I’ve had other mums tell me the first week or so was terrible. So as much as there’s nothing wrong with giving it up if it’s not working for you, it does get better!

When I had Dd I had skin to skin and bf straight away. If you want to bf getting baby to breast ASAP after birth (within 30 mins) is really important. I waited for the cord to stop pulsating before it was clamped. I don’t remember actually expelling the placenta!

Once I was stitched I gave Dd to her dad for cuddles and I had a shower.

Vagisil cream saved my life with stitches - it has lidocaine so once it’s on it numbs everything. I think I’d have gone mad without it.

Remember in the first few days baby will feed constantly, they are telling your boobs to get the milk in. Their stomachs are tiny, so only need a teaspoon or so of colostrum at each feed. It’s very, very normal to be constantly with a boob out. Things generally calm down around 4-6 weeks. Once you get through the crap bit it’s very worth it.

Find a number of a lactation specialist now and make contact so you have back up if needs be.

Amazon prime saved me in those early days. Also - I think there is incredible pressure to breastfeed and even the classes (I did a free antenatal breastfeeding one by la leche league) did not prepare me for the fact my baby wouldn’t latch.

DS is seven weeks old. We had about 45 mins skin to skin & then I had stitches so gave him to DH. I didn’t find the stitches painful at all, I couldn’t feel them, but the midwife did say I had a ridiculously high pain threshold - I was just chatting and laughing with her, but might have been the adrenaline!

DS was weighed & dressed after about 90 mins or so. DH stayed for another 30 mins and then went home (it was about 3am at this point) and I went for a bath. Finally got some rest about 4am.

The other thing I would recommend is a breastfeeding pillow. I’ve found it so useful. I didn’t get on with Spritz for Bits & preferred to just use water and then air dry. Boots maternity pads are definitely the best! Make sure you are constantly drinking water - makes your wee sting less and also helps keep you regular. I honestly didn’t find the first poo that bad, squatting seemed to help more than sitting!

Get a Haakaa breast pump for when your milk comes up, and I would recommend trying to express some colostrum initially - this was a lifesaver to syringe feed DS when we were struggling with the latch.

@Piccalily19 Thank you so much for the advice - and congratulations, too! I hope you're healing well! I wouldn't have thought about diluting my wee with water - that's such a good idea. I'd definitely been worrying a bit about using the toilet afterwards; so much so that I had a weird dream about it!

Was passing the placenta easier than the pushing stage of birth? Did you have any afterpains and things? I think the injection does sound like a good idea. I've been considering this since my midwife mentioned it - I think by that point I'll just want to get everything on its way!

Thank you for the breastfeeding advice too. I think my best bet is just to stay in bed for the first week in that case, lots of skin to skin and trying to get things established!

@Ostryga Thank you! I've been thinking about delayed cord clamping too - am I allowed to do that if I have the injection to hurry the process up? I'll definitely stock up on Vagisil!

Did you ask the hospital for a lactation consultant or find your own? I've spoken to a hospital group about breastfeeding but I'm not sure if it's the same thing. I'd definitely like to make sure I've got someone at the other end of a call if I run into any issues, as I really want it to work and to give myself the best chance.

@peachypetite I agree, lots of the breastfeeding sites I've been on haven't really discussed what happens if there isn't a latch. I've been reading up on how to recognise tongue ties and managed to find a place in my city that offers consultations, as it seems the waiting lists can be quite long on the NHS. It definitely doesn't take away the stress though!

@MaverickDanger Congratulations on your DS! I hope I have the same adrenaline - I'm a wimp if I bang my toe, so maybe childbirth and stitches will be my strong point. 😂

I'm feeling relieved that there seems to be a nice period of time for skin to skin after birth, that's really reassuring. I'm sure I'll love the bath/shower when I get it, but I was nervous that I'd be chivvied off to get one after 20 minutes.

I've just ordered a breastfeeding pillow - thank you! I'm pleased you said that about the Boots pads as they're the ones I've got too. I'll definitely get hold of the pump, for some reason I didn't even think of that and it's a brilliant idea. Takes away a lot of anxiety in case there are initially latching problems!

Thanks @FolkyFoxFace 😊 passing the placenta was actually the easiest bit! I can’t even remember if the midwife told me to do a little push or anything but basically it just flopped out, no pain delivering it or anything!
After pains I had soreness from the stitching, felt like bruised to sit, but after day 10 it basically went completely :) they give me localised pain relief after the stitching (tablet up my bum- no dignity aha!) so the first night I was quite comfy considering 😊