Maternity pads vs adult diapers

[GinnyBee]

I'm approaching 30 weeks now (FTM) and starting to look into putting my hospital bag together (hoping I won't need it for 10 weeks yet, but you never know!) and have been watching some YouTube videos of what people actually used when they were in hospital, and one youtuber said she found adult diapers a godsend, much better than maternity pads and disposable underwear. But I realise this was just one person, so I wanted to ask if there were more experiences about them and if you would recommend something like that. I'm having a planned c-section if that makes a difference too.

Hi! I have done a few online baby courses and they always says to try and avoid adult nappies. They soak up far far more blood which is great but that can mean you don't realise how much you are bleeding and too much can mean something is wrong!

After both babies, I've never had a need for anything other than maternity pads and my normal underwear. Always started with the thick pads for cushioning and then moved to the slim ones. Both were vaginal deliveries though so others may have more specific advice following c section.

3 csections, just pads and normal underwear were fine each time. The bleeding is the same for both types of births, it's the placenta wound that bleeds, nothing to do with method of birth.

I had the extra long pads for heavy night flow and over bump knickers for two c sections (1 emcs 1ecs) and that worked fine. Much cheaper too than the specialist stuff. I had two packs, one for the hosp bag and one at home that DH could bring in if needed or I could use after my hosp stay. Tbh the bleeding stopped alot sooner than I expected.

Thanks all :) Yeah I know there's bleeding with a c-section too, was more thinking of the wound really. I've seen some people say that disposable undies were scratchy and would catch on the stitches, and wondered if adult nappies have a similar problem.

I'll get some high waisted cotton pants and mat pads!

High waisted underwear is enough with the wound, unless the waistband sits on the actual wound it shouldn't be an issue.

Not relevant to an elective C, but I used adult incontinence pants for water breaking as it’s not just the initial gush, it goes on and on. With my first, I just used mat pads but they were literally soaked through in 5 mins and while not as bad in car as could sit on eleventy billion towels and plastic, the walk from car to maternity meant soaked shoes (binned), huge puddle in elevator and massive trail behind me that had to be mopped all through hospital. This also pretty much confined me to the bed where they would just replace the disposable bed mat every 15min. Standing up and walking around just meant a permanent cleaner for the room essentially as was huge EHS issue as pads didn’t stand up for more than 5mins before it started running down legs again.

All my subsequent were exactly the same so from second onwards I used heavy duty incontinence pants. Would go through several bags and an undignified change in hosp carpark on arrival to get me to maternity without the poor cleaner having to follow my trail through the hospital. Meant could also move around room in labour without fear of someone walking in and going head over arse.

Definitely get some big, soft knickers that come up to your belly button, and some thick maternity pads for the first day or two. I say that as someone who used to work on the maternity wards, and as someone who has had five children.

All I used were disposal material knickers and pads

Used regular pants and maternity pads. Only wasn't enough once, I showered after the birth, put on pants, pad, and jeans and bled through everything. Had to change back into a hospital gown and send my jeans home to be washed! After that no issues.

Just used maternity pads and used 2 at once on a sort of angle initially post birth. Them and cheap comfy big black cotton kickers.
I did find I bled a lot less and for a shorter time with a section compared to my vaginal birth (that might just be a personal thing but the midwife did say they do tend to see that).
Either way big black knickers and maternity pads. Kept them in the freezer at home to sooth things down there as well xx

I used adult diaper because i was incontinent for 2 weeks after giving birth vaginally.
But i am sure some proper maternity pads are enough for the bleeding...

I had an unexpected c-section so not prepared but was fine with highwaisted black sainburys knickers. Bought cheap pants a size up from my normal size so would be happy to throw away.

Key is to keep changing your pads regularly. I heard adult diapers were not recommended as people weren't changing them enough.

I used disposable paper knickers, and large maternity pads. After a c-section it is comforting to wear a pad along the scar/wound, over the stitches, feels secure especially if you sneeze or cough. I wore the same ones for bleeding purposes, however for the first 12hours, I was just sitting/lying on a mat thing on the bed.

Wuka postpartum period pants! I used Boots pads for a week on top of them just to be sure and then switched to just the period pants. Far more comfy than anything else.

2 ELCSs here and frankly the lochia was less than my normal periods, just went on for longer. In our hospital, the first few hours whilst the spinal is wearing off, they supply the pads as the nurses just sort of pack them in between your numb legs (dignity at its finest! They are very kind though and of course you'll have a catheter in at this stage), and I presume this is when you bleed the most? After that normal.mqternity pads give you peace of mind but frankly weren't hugely needed. Hope all goes well!

I had a section and used the big tena disposable pants for a while. They were great. Very comfy. Then moved on to the big massive pads which also did the job.

The big pants were great tho as they don’t move about / feel awkward / leak like pads can.