You will bleed for weeks. Buy more than seems right. Here is what to buy for each stage, and how many.
You will bleed for weeks. It is heaviest in the first days and tapers over the following weeks. Pads, in three sizes: the thick ones for the first days, regular overnight pads for the next couple of weeks, and liners at the end.
Buy more than seems right. Running out at 2 AM is the mistake every mom makes once.
The hospital sends you home with thick pads and mesh underwear. Use them. Buy one more pack of the thickest overnight pads you can find for when those run out.
For comfort on sore tissue, the Honey Pot postpartum pads are on Dr. Meg's list: a cotton cover with a cooling herbal infusion, made for after birth.
As the bleeding tapers, step down to regular overnight pads, then to liners. Change often. Pat dry with the peri bottle and let the tissue breathe.
A rough plan for the house: two packs of the thick ones, two packs of regular overnight, one pack of liners. Whatever is left over keeps.
A peri bottle, a perineal spray, and a sitz bath. All of it, with one button that fills the cart: Dr. Meg's After Birth Basket.
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Pelvic Floor Exercises After Birth: When to Start and What to Do
Your First Poop After Birth: How to Make It Easier
Postpartum Essentials: What to Buy Before the Baby Comes
Postpartum Recovery Timeline: The First 12 Weeks, Week by Week
Exercise After Birth: When You Can Walk, Lift, and Run Again
When Kegels Are Not Working After Baby: Tight vs. Weak
Diastasis Recti Exercises: What to Do and What to Skip
C-Section Recovery Timeline: Week by Week to Full Healing
Sex After Birth: When, Why It Hurts, and What Helps
How to Check for Diastasis Recti at Home
C-Section Scar Massage: When to Start and How
Perifit vs Elvie Trainer: Which Pelvic Floor Trainer Should You Buy?
Best Peri Bottle After Birth: Frida vs the Hospital Bottle
Dr. Meg Cochran is a licensed Doctor of Physical Therapy specializing in pelvic floor rehabilitation, a trained doula, and a mom of four. She treats women after birth through Where You Are Physical Therapy in Oxford, Mississippi.
This article is educational and is not medical advice, a diagnosis, or a substitute for in-person care. Products are named as examples. Follow your own provider's instructions. For heavy bleeding, fever, severe pain, or thoughts of harming yourself or your baby, contact your healthcare provider or call 911.
After Birth is Dr. Meg's postpartum pelvic floor recovery guide. Nine chapters, every exercise with its dose, a C-section track, the diastasis check, the return-to-run checklist, and the tight-versus-weak chapter most moms never get. An instant PDF you can read on your phone. It is educational, not physical therapy.
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