Holistic Birth Bag Essentials
You’ve probably seen the list of the mandatory items to toss in your birth bag, but if you’re hoping to incorporate some more natural goods into your birth experience, read on for all the deets!
First off, every birth experience is different, and some people might find some things necessary, and others not so much. The list we’ve developed is accessible to as many people with various different labour experiences.
IN LABOUR
Cosmetic Items: labour is hard work, and between the nausea, sweating, and grubby hospital gown, it’s easy to feel less than your best. Packing your favourite skin care essentials into your toiletries bag can be great to help freshen up. A comb even can be used as an acupressure tool! Some of my non-negotiables include dry shampoo, lip balm for dehydrated lips from dry hospital air, and a facial cleanser to wash away the sweat & grime. Birthbox sent me the Laneige Sleeping Mask + Youth to the People Kale & Green Tea Spinach Cleanser, and these clean skincare products would be an amazing addition to any birth bag.
Electrolyte Boosting Liquids: The Hospital Bag Box includes a laborade concentrate, featuring a mixture of antioxidants, probiotics and minerals to keep you energized and lubricated throughout birth. Its made with lemon, ginger & honey - all natural & botanical ingredients to nourish your labour.
AFTER BIRTH
Perineal Support: The first bathroom break after birth is daunting for any birthing person. Many hospitals provide ketchup-bottle-type peri-bottles to aid in the process, but I really love angled bidet bottles for ease of use (there’s enough going on, you don’t need to add peeing all over yourself to that list).
Most will fill the bottle with warm water, but this is an amazing opportunity to add herbal support to aid in your healing. The Birthbox comes with a calendula lavender Momwash sitzbath that can be diluted 1:1 with warm water directly into the peribottle. Calendula has antiseptic and anti-inflammatory powers, which works wonders on irritated labias and perineal tears. Lavender is a relaxing scent that can help relax a stressed pelvic floor to start the flow of urination, and its also a powerful anti-fungal and antiseptic agent.Healing Teas: in case you didn’t get the memo, I’m pretty passionate about incorporate healing herbs into labour + postpartum. Most hospitals and birth centers will have a kettle in the kitchenette you can use, so bringing your own tea bags can help you feel cozy, comforted, and aid in the recovery process. Red raspberry leaf is a pretty magical perinatal herb that you can drink immediately after labour. It’s a uterine tonic, meaning it will help get your uterus back to its pre-birth size and help with postpartum uterine contractions. Birthbox’s After Birth Tea uses red raspberry leaf as its main ingredient, and they even have an amazing recipe to doctor this up into a lactation-boosting oat milk latte.
ALL ABOUR BIRTHBOX
Founded and operated by women of colour, Birthbox is the only company focused exclusively on the person giving birth, centered on clean & natural ingredients. All packaging is designed to be reused or recycled, making this a safe & sustainable option for parents to be.
