On April 8, 2022 we welcomed our little girl into the world and she made us first time parents! Even though I work with women during pregnancy, postpartum and beyond, I still had never experienced childbirth myself. I know the anatomy of the pelvic floor and biomechanics of labor like the back of my hand, but I had never fully experienced the beautiful event that is childbirth. Which means I had never had to recover postpartum as well…

And let me tell you something, walking a patient through the postpartum recovery process and ACTUALLY going through it myself are TWO completely separate things. That I am sure.

Unless you have 1) had a child before or 2) had a very deep and involved conversation with a friend/family member about the difficulties of postpartum recovery, then chances are you were not fully prepared for the mess of postpartum!

Yes, I did say mess because lets me real, the first few weeks after delivery are messy whether you delivered vaginally or via cesarean.

Now because I treat this patient population on a daily basis I had a bit of a head start in preparing for the recovery of my pelvic floor and had all of these items at home ready for my postpartum journey. Let me also state this, ALL of these items are helpful for your postpartum recovery whether you had a vaginal or cesarean delivery. That is because your pelvic floor undergoes stress and changes REGARDLESS of the delivery you had. For the past 10 months your pelvic floor has undergone significant stress carrying the weight of your growing uterus and that means it needs some TLC. Plus, not everyone knows they are going to need a c-section prior to labor, so if you went through any part of labor (especially pushing) then your pelvic floor was 100% still involved.

So what are the products?

8 Essential Products for Pelvic Floor Recovery Postpartum

1. Squatty Potty
2. Peri bottle
3. Stool softener
4. Disposable underwear
5. High-waisted, compression underwear
6. Perineal spray
7. Cooling wipes/pad liners
8. Large water bottle
   

Great, now what is the purpose of these products and why do you need them?

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A post shared by Dr. Mae Hughes, pelvic floorPT (@dr.maehughes)

1. Squatty Potty

The Squatty Potty is quite possibly the best invention in the pelvic floor physical therapy world. Why? Because it places the body in the most optimal posture for a bowel movement and therefore can help to relieve constipation, alleviate pain with hemorrhoids and reduce stress on the pelvic floor associated with straining. In order to have a bowel movement the pelvic floor musculature must RELAX to allow stool to pass through the anal sphincter. After childbirth the pelvic floor muscles can get super tense making it harder to have a bowel movement and lead to constipation (not to mention the constipated induced from medication!) The Squatty Potty promotes a posture that helps to open up the pelvic floor musculature as well as place the colon and anus in an aligned position to reduce difficulties having a bowel movement. Moral of the story…everyone should have one of these regardless if you have delivered a child or not.

I purchased a portable one so that I could bring it to the hospital and I was so so glad I did!

Product link: Portable vs. Original

2. Peri bottle

After you deliver your baby, you will experience lochia for the next 2-8 weeks (timeline may vary per individual). Lochia is made up of blood, mucous and uterine tissue as the uterus sheds its lining and tissue that is no longer needed to care for your baby. Hooray your uterus is shrinking! Additionally, after your placenta is delivered it leaves a large wound on the inside of your uterus from where it detached and the healing of this wound also contributes to lochia.

Lochia is MESSY and you do NOT want to wipe down there after delivery especially if you had any tearing requiring stitches. So think of the peri bottle as a bidet for your vulva. Fill it with warm water and cleanse away!

The hospital does provide you with a bottle, but it does not have this long neck and therefore can often make it difficult to appropriately clean your vulva and anal sphincter, which is why I highly recommend purchasing this one and bringing it to the hospital! I sure did.

Product link: Bao Bei Body Peri Bottle (use code drmaehughes for 15% off all Bao Bei Body products, FSA or HSA eligible)

3. Stool softener

Sometimes the Squatty Potty is simply not enough and you need a little extra help to get the bowels moving. Nobody wants to be straining on the toilet after just delivering! The hospital provides this for you, but when you get home you want to make sure you have something on hand.

Product link: Colace Stool Softener (FSA or HSA eligible)

4. Disposable underwear

While the hospital does provide you with mesh underwear, I found these disposable underwear to be much more comfortable and supportive. I only brought one pair to the hospital (and wore the provided mesh underwear the rest of the time), but when I got home I immediately changed to these disposable ones and had no regrets!

These do NOT have a built in pad, so you will be wearing either your large hospital pad or smaller period pad with them.

Product link: Frida Mom Disposable Underwear (FSA or HSA eligible)

5. High-waisted, compression underwear

I cannot say enough good things about Bao Bei’s compression bloomers. I wore them during pregnancy to help support my bump and reduce swelling of my vulva and pelvic region, and now I am still wearing them 3 weeks postpartum to reduce swelling once more and provide gentle compression to more abdominals (which still feel like Jell-O!)

I prefer high-waisted, compression underwear instead of an abdominal binder because the underwear lifts from the BOTTOM up. Sometimes women can wear the binders too tight around their waist which pushes too much pressure down into the pelvic floor leading to dysfunction later on.

This underwear is fantastic for both vaginal and cesarean deliveries especially because the high-waist goes above the cesarean scar to provide extra protection.

Product link: Bao Bei Body Compression Bloomers (use code drmaehughes for 15% all Bao Bei Body products)

6. Perineal spray

Regardless if you had any tearing or not, you vulva WILL be sore following a vaginal delivery. I personally did not have any tearing, but it still felt like I had a rug burn down there. I started using this soothing spray made with cucumber, witch hazel and essential oils in the third trimester of my pregnancy (hemorrhoids) and I am still using it 3 weeks postpartum today! The bottle sprays upside down, so do not worry about having to perform any gymnastics. Pro tip: put it in the fridge for extra cooling. I brought this to the hospital!

C-section mamas: If you pushed at all during labor or developed a hemorrhoid you will still find this helpful!

Product link: Earth Mama Organics Perineal Spray

7. Cooling wipes/pad liners

Place these liners on top of your pad for the ultimate cooling relief. My personal routine was to place a pad in my underwear, spray my vulva with the perineal spray and then place these liners on top of my pad. This combination provided the best cooling relief for my vulva. I stopped using the pad liners simply when the bag ran out.

C-section mamas: If you pushed at all during labor or developed a hemorrhoid you will still find this helpful!

Product link: Frida Mom Pad Liners

8. Large water bottle

The most important part of postpartum recovery for both vaginal and cesarean deliveries…hydration! The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends drinking 64 to 96 ounces every day during pregnancy, and I recommend drinking the same amount postpartum especially if you are breastfeeding/pumping.

If you are picky like me and like to have your water cold then I highly recommend an insulated bottle like this Yeti cup that conveniently fits in your cupholder.

Product link: 30 ounce Yeti Tumbler (use code drmaehughes for 15% off all Bao Bei Body products)

And there you have it, my 8 essential products for ultimate pelvic floor recovery postpartum. Don’t forget to bring some of these to the hospital, I promise you will not regret it!