quesion about umbilical cords and after birth pads

[Mom2baldie]

2 questions:

What is everyone planning on using for after the birth as far as pads go? Im talking the day of the birth and maybe the next?

My birth supply list says to get something like Depends underwear, but I am wondering if those are really neccessary or if heavy duty cloth pads would work just as well? I really dont remember how much I bled in the 1st days after Paityns and Rileys births...

Also, what is everyone planning to put on the umbilical cord? Is anyone planning a lotus birth?

Again, my birth supply list says either powdered goldenseal or alcohol for it. With Riley we used alcohol and his stump took 3 weeks to fall off. With Paityn we used NOTHING and it took 3 weeks also. Im thinking of trying goldenseal this time (variety is the spice of life) and wondering if breaking open capsules would work?

I see my midwife again this week and could just wait to ask her these ?s but thought I would get some other opinions.

[plantmommy]

There's pads included with the birth kit I have up in my closet. Besides those, I'll just use always thin maxis. Regular pads worked just fine for me last time, and I actually wished I had regular rather than maxis after the first few days.

I think I'll either leave the cord alone or put breastmilk on it. I used alcohol for ds, and his cord tooks weeks to fall off. dd's fell off after 4 days with nothing.

[falcon]

I just used those gigantic overnight pads after I had my baby and they worked fine for me... I used alcohol on Falcon's cord, it took 2 months to fall off (the doctor said this was within the range of normal, but geezzzzz...) So I don't think I'll use alcohol on the cord of any future babies I have. I've never heard of using goldenseal on the cord, but I doubt it could work worse than alcohol did!

[wardermom]

I'll probably use flat diapers folded up to an appropriate size. I did this after Mika and if worked out fine.
For the umbillical cord, I'll use peroxide if anything is needed.

[allibabble]

For pads afterward...beats me.

For cords...On another list I frequent, this was recently a topic of discussion, and the gist of the posts...
- Don't bother with alcohol; it seems to even make it take longer.
- Leaving it alone isn't a bad option, and better than putting alcohol on it.
- Goldenseal (yes, you can break open the capsules) seemed to encourage quick healing -- either that, or it was a fluke that the moms who'd used it had fast-healing babies!

So, I figure I'll use goldenseal.

Allison

[JenInMpls]

I have read in the Wise Woman Herbal that one of the best things you can use on a cord stump is honey. It is naturally anti-bacterial.

just passing along what I had read. I was just planning on leaving Sprout's alone.

j

[plantmommy]

Yeah, but breastmilk is antibacterial too, and much more handy!

[mum2tori]

Let's see...

Pads- while at the hospital I'll probably use the big pads they have there. Once I'm home I'll use the cloth PP pads that I have. And I also have a few infant prefolds that I used with Jack for the heavier times. I hate disposible pads with a passion so it was wonderful when I discovered cloth pads.

The cord- with both Tori and Jack I just used alcohol. They both took about 8 days to come off. I plan to get some goldenseal to use with Radish. Two friends that had babies within a couple weeks of Jack used it and both had the cords come off within 3-4 days. So... I figure it certainly can't hurt to try it. One had a HB and she waited until the cord stopped pulsing to cut the cord, the other had a hospital birth and the OB just cut the cord. Soo that didn't seem to make any difference on it healing faster.

[Mom2baldie]

Thanks for the thoughts everyone!

Jen, it is interesting that you mentioned this. There was a thread on Birth and Beyond a week or so ago about honey being very useful for healing wounds. It was even mentioned that it could be put on cesarean incisions to ward off infections...

Does the book say how often it should be applied? Is that a dumb question?

[mum2tori]

I'm curious if the honey would still work if it pasturized. I'd be afraid to use it otherwise because of the newborn's immune system (since you aren't suppose to feed infants under the age of one honey). Wouldn't the honey get into the newborn's blood stream through the cord 'wound'?

I have heard of using honey as a healing agent before (makes sense since it's what makes bees grow ), I'd just be worried about using it on a newborn though.

I'd use the collustrum or breastmilk instead.

[sistermama]

I won't use anything unless the the stump starts to look red or a little infected, then I think I'll just use some witchhazel (also recommended in Wise Woman Herbal).

If you bleed a lot or tear, I really recommend the Depends for a couple of days. They don't wad up in your crotch like the pads do and sitting on that lump made my tender self even more irritated. Be sure too that if you birth kit doesn't have one, that you have a peri bottle on hand for afterwards. Nothing made me feel better than squirting myself off with some lukewarm water (sorry, TMI). I also found some New Mama Bottom Spray (herbal) that I'm going to get this time instead of the Dermoplast that I had last time.

[JenInMpls]

Wise Woman Herbal say:

Use honey to coat the stump... it is a safe sterile dressing and astringent agent for all wounds and burns, and is a "natural" for umbilical care.

Apply witch hazel extract as it comes from the drugstore to the umbilicus with a soft cloth. Witch Hazel is a powerful astringent. it closes and dries the stump quickly.

Expose your naked infant to sunlight for a few minutes every day. Fresh air and sunlight are potent healers and perfect infection preventers.

Brew up comfrey leaf compresses for postpartum care of mother's perineum and infant's umbilicus. Extrenally, comfrey soothes torn and cut skin, relieves pain, and promotes very rapid healing. Remember to compress several times a day for no more than five minutes at a time.

Rosemary leaves are strong enough to challenge a mild infection at the umbilical stump. Use rosemary tincture or powdered rosemary directly on the umbilicus at every diaper change to quickly dry it and kill the bacteria.

Echinacea - put a drop or two of echinacea augustifolia tincture right on the umbilical stump several times a day to enecourage rapid healing, discourage bacteria, and eliminate mild infections. If infection is clearly present, as evidenced by redness, extreme tenderness or pus, use Echinacea tincture internally to counter it. The usual dose in this case is one drop per pound of body weight given once a day. A crafty mother slips the dropper alongside her nipple and administers the dose while the infant nurses. You can also take Echinacea yourself and give it to your baby through your milk. Drink half a cupful of infusion or a dropperful of tincture in some water fifteen or twenty minutes before nursing, 3 times a day. Continue with it for a week at least until infection is completely cleared.

Re: honey and babies - you are not supposed to give infants honey because raw honey may (rarely) contain the anaerobic bacterium Clostridia which can multiply in the baby's immature gut and cause infant botulism. A less-than-one-year-old's gut is not as acidic as an older baby's or adult's gut and therefore does not kill the botulism spores the way an older child or adult's gut would. Since this illness requires the spores to have been ingested and be in the gut to multiply, I don't think that a child could get anything from having it applied to its cord stump, but if it makes you worried, then you should probably avoid it as an umbilical treatment.

jen

[Lazuli]

I've been wondering about the number of cloth pads needed as well. The list of supplies I need to get for the birth includes depends and I'd really rather not get them. Disposable pads tend to irritate me and make me break out and you know, I don't think I want to expose and already tender area to something that normally tends to cause irritation. This was why I switched to cloth a couple of years ago. I have one of the glad rags overnight pads and I made a pattern of it and when I made the liner pattern I made it twice as long as the glad rag ones. I bought two yards of flannel, now I need to order some snaps. I was thinking I'd try to make a good 15-20 pads. Hmmmm.....

[plantmommy]

My birth kit has organic cotton all natural disposables.

[Caroline248]

Use the pads the hospital has with the ice pack in them....HEAVEN!!! Then, when you are home, use witch hazel hemrhoid pads (like tucks, but just witch hazel) in layers on the pads you end up using . I can't tell you how good they feel!! Matter of fact, I need to go get some!!

My first two I did the alcohol on the cord like I was told (well, not as much as they said too...). When my last was born, she didn't come home for a few months, so the hosp took care of the cord too. I asked for alcohol for the cord, and they said they just leave it alone unless it looks like there is a problem. So if Childrens Hosp recomeends leaving it...I guess I will just leave it too...

Caroline

[cottonwood]

I haven't used anything on my babies' cords, and they've all fallen off in 3-5 days.

The first couple of days after the baby is born I like to relax as much as possible, so I pretty much just sit around on towels and change them every so often. I really feel like the exposure to the air aids in healing. After that I use cloth pads -- I am mildly allergic to synthetic pads, they make me itch and smell.

[Brisen]

For pads, I just use what I usually use for overnight. I switched to cloth between the last birth and this pregnancy, so I'll just see how it goes. I have cloth diapers if need be.

I haven't put anything on the cords in the past. I would think that pasteurized honey would still work. My understanding is that it has to do with the chemical structure of the sugar -- any available oxygen is bound up in the sugar, so aerobic bacteria can't grow.

[3boobykins]

We used alcohol on ds's cord stump and it took a long time to heal and ended up looking kind of gummy and smelling funky. His ped put silver nitrate on it and it dried up right away. With dd, the midwives said to just leave it alone, and it fell off and healed in a few days. We'll leave it alone this time too, unless it looks infected, then we'll do goldenseal or maybe colloidal silver/breastmilk.

As far as pads go--I'll probably use a combo of old prefolds and cheap generic brand disposable pads. I'll try the comfrey too, and maybe some other herbs for healing--I only had a "skid mark" last time, no tears, but I was pretty sore every time I peed--had to walk totally bow-legged from the bathroom for a few days. I've heard that soaking pads in witch hazel and freezing feels great. I used bags of frozen veggies right after the birth, and it helped a lot as well. If you have chux pads left over, which you probably wil especially for a homebirth (our birthkit came with a ton, and we didn't use many, since we had a waterbirth), it's great to bare your bottom and sit/lie/recline on a pad to let things breath down there. Blowdrying with a warm dryer (not hot!) after peeing helped too.

[Mom2baldie]

Thanks for all the input everyone!

I think I will use old prefolds for myself for the 1st couple of days, then use my heavy cloth pads. Glad to know I dont really need to buy anything disposable for that. The pads soaked in witchhazel and bag of frozen veggies are great ideas also, Im going to make sure I have some on hand.