Maternity pads?!

[Mumbofeet]

Just getting all the bits together for my hospital bag. Can anyone recommend any decent maternity pads? The postnatal bleeding is the bit I'm most worried about so I want to get some which won't let me down! Also how bloody many do I need?!
Any other tips for making labour/immediately after birth easier would also be much appreciated!

I worry people think I'm a poo troll, but I had such a terrible constipation experience about 5 days post c-section I always recommend ensuring you are very regular in the lead up. Lactulose, Fybogel, anusol and glycerin suppositories just in case.

I'm planning on living on soup and fruit in the lead up to my next section

@Moanyoldcow I had my first post csection poo on the Sunday and my csection was early hours of Friday morning. I thought that was quite good going!! 😂 I had a chippy the day before I went in to be induced (on the Wednesday) and didn't poo until the Sunday so I don't know if that played a part lol

The bigger the thicker the better! You will also want to change them very regularly to avoid infection - I’ve probably got through 100 in 3 weeks.

I made myself a “going to the toilet” bag for postnatal ward: pads, pants, lactulose, germoloids, soft toilet tissue, hand sanitiser (you want clean hands before as well as after). Just grabbed the whole bag every time I needed to scoot to the loo - had good wee & poo experiences as a result (!)

Buy disposable knickers in bulk too.... a huge size, the biggest you can find.

I found the boots brand were great, and they gave me a few packs of huge green pads in the hospital for free as I had a section. I wore them over my scar. I dumped the disposable knickers each time I went to the loo or went to change the lad. The blood and goo gets everywhere, and I didn’t want to have to wash pants.

Lochia flow lasted a week or two as they cleared out my womb after the section.

So, a good few packs of boots brand maternity towels and at least 20 pairs of disposable pants in XL or lots and lots of
cotton ‘Bridget Jones style granny pants’ in size 20. The bigger the better as your tummy will still be huge/ swollen anyway.

Good luck with it!

the pad... autocorrect

I used the Tesco ones with DS and have them in my hospital bag ready for Friday.

Boots and supermarket own brand are fine, buy loads. Stay away from sanitary towels, even when things lighten up, as they do irritate. Boots do slim maternity pads which you can switch to after first couple of weeks.

My top tip for any stitches is to have a water bottle by the loo and just rinse with it every time you go. My midwife left a hospital bottle but a normal water bottle would work.

You will be amazed how little you care about the bleeding in that first week though!

Get disposable knickers and use with the boots maternity pads

Thanks so much for all the advice, i like the idea of a 'toilet bag' to take everything in with you! I think im going to get some disposable pants doubled up with maternity pads for the first couple of days. After that when i switch to normal pants with maternity pads has anyone used similar to these? And have you found they're secure enough? Actual maternity knickers are like 4 times the price so want to avoid them! Hoping these in a bigger size will do the job

Boots maternity but also try old school Kotex. As bleeding became lighter Lil-lets pads were good too.

I didn't like the disposable pants @Mumbofeet I just bought massive full brief cheapies from primark and they done the job! I'm glad I invested in them too cause I had a section and a normal knicker would have been a no go!

Mothercare ones without wings are good and I second the large primark pants. I loved t tree oil for bath and the body shop did t tree shower gel to get rid of the hospital from my skin!

Boots here too :) I took 2 packs in with me and left other packs at home for people to bring in xx

Boots here too. The 'toilet bag' idea is a good one.

Also I used the paper hand towels for the first couple of days to wipe/pat instead of loo roll as I found it stuck to stitches. Just don't put it down the loo!

I just bought cheap night time ones, but someone told me to use a newborn nappy if I was ever stuck 😂

Just get LOADS. It's not worth running out. No particular brand, Mothercare were fine.

The boots thin maternity pads did me each time. It really isn't the most pleasent thing, but it does get better.

Asda - fab cheap and thick!! Don't forget to get some cheap pants as well that you can chuck afterwards- again ASDA- good luck with the birth

I found pads really uncomfortable last time, and had to wear them for weeks, ugh awful. Pads make me sore, and given that I was already incredibly sore it was horrible.

Since then I've been using reusable pads from cheeky wipes which are so comfortable and feel like a little bit of luxury for my chuff! So I'm going to take normal maternity pads to use in hospital, then as soon as I'm home I'll swap to reuseables.