Does your midwife do an herb bath for mom and baby?

[Barcino]

My midwife recommends an herb bath for after tha birth where mommy and baby get in. She says it helps the mom heal down there as well as with muscle pain etc.. it is very invigorating and she says it helps baby cord heal.
Sounds not appealing to me at all... I feel like I will want a clean bath not yucky water ... anybody have any experience with this?

[crunchymomof2]

I had an herb bath. It was my the infusion my mw made from my sitz herbs. Then she put flowers in there for pictures. It was nice.

[pamamidwife]

I have known midwives to do this, but since many of my clients have waterbirths, sometimes it isn't appealing. Most women want a shower and then cuddle in bed with their babies.

[momto l&a]

I always take a shower, dont want to be sitting in yucky water

[MamaTaraX]

I've worked with some midwives who do this and the moms have loved it.In fact, I'm going to call them and see if Ican get my hands on whatever they use. It smells fantastic. I don't know if my midwife does or not, ifshe doesn't, I'll definately get this stuff from some other midwives I know. I'm looking forward to it.

Namaste, Tara
mama to Doodle (7), Butterfly (2), and Rythm (due at home 1/06)

[ZeldasMom]

I did not bathe right after the birth. My midwife did make up a big pot of sitz bath herbs for me to use in my peri bottle (she left a couple of big bowls of it in the fridge). She also wet a bunch of pads in the solution and put them in the freezer. I also used a couple cups of it in my bath water when I took a bath the day after the birth. I do think this stuff is awesome--it felt really good on my sore bottom. I think this is what my midwife used:
http://www.birthwithlove.com/categor...s%2DMotherlove

We did not bathe our baby after the birth, though our midife said if we wanted to take her in the bath with us in those early pp days that would be fine. We just rubbed her vernix in and called it good. For cord care we broke open GoldenSeal capsules (that were also from Birth with Love) and dumped the powder over the umbilical area a few times a day. The cord stump fell off in 4 days. Woo-hoo! And it was so nice not swabbing alcohol on our baby like we did with DS.

[CarolynnMarilynn]

We make up herbal sitz baths for women if they choose it. It's not for right after the birth, but in the next few days after, particularly if they have some perineal grazes or a tear. The herbs get steeped in a pot and used either in a bath, or in a peri bottle. It appeals to some, and not to others. We went to a local herbalist for all the supplies, which were wildcrafted and as local as possible. I don't have the recipe we used committed to memory but it does include Calendula flowers, yarrow, plantain, St. John's Wort, rose, and a few other things. I love the packages even just sitting on the counter -- they smell and look so divine.

As for the cord, we advocate doing nothing: falls off the fastest, bath or no bath. Never had a cord infection, almost always falls off in 3-4 days.

[alegna]

We did and it was yummy. All sorts of nice smelling things.

-Angela

[aishy]

I really enjoyed mine. The smell of the herbs remind me of my favorite Ramon Noodles - hot n spicy. Two of my boys got in the tub with me (it wasn't hot enough after my 2nd birth) and their cords fell off within a week, #2 took way longer. So yeah, I think it does have an effect in that way. We'll definitely do our herb bath again this time! I also like to shower/wash my hair after just to feel good n clean.

aisling

[Barcino]

I am wondering if you midwife was Molly Germash in TX? was it? I have never heard of anybody else having a herb bath that smelled like food and that is how she described it to me

With number two since you didnt put him in the bath did you have to do anything to the cord? Put anything in it or treat it in any way?

[aishy]

Yup thats my midwife. I went to her 6 weeks pg with my first & I've never had any motivation to find anyone else

Uhm no we didn't treat his cord in any other way.

Aisling

[jplain]

Huh? Yucky? It wasn't yucky at all. Certainly no yuckier than a regular bath. You prepare and then strain a bath 'tea' ~ the water is see-through, tinted like herbal tea. But hey, if it isn't your cup of tea (hee hee), then don't do it!

We continued daily herbal baths for a week or so after DD's birth.
It was a nice family ritual; DH enjoyed preparing the baths for us and DD obviously loved them.

Carolyn

[Czen:)]

We do it but not right after the birth. Maybe the next day. I'm not a bath person regularily but this is fantastic! It feels so healing and invigorating! I can't wait to do that part again.

Czen

[milk4two]

Mine does not but it sounds nice.

[brandy111803]

I will have to ck out the site that one of you posted to create my own if the midwife I choose doesn't do it. So, you would just get in the bath after you have your initial cuddle time together? Then you just make it warm enough for you and baby and put the strained water in and soak it all up? I would have LOVED a nice, relaxing bath w/ my first. He was a hosp birth and I was so jazzed that I couldn't sleep. They gave me drugs whereas a nice, warm bath probably would have done the trick naturally! Can't wait for a homebirth this time around! Yippee!

[homebirthing]

It is sooooo important in my own opinion!! It is usually comfrey root, uva ursi, sea salts, comfrey leaves, whichazel...things like that. It is more for perineal healing then anything. It is like bathing in tea. You don't scrub your body or anything.

It is really important to get 3-4 hip baths a day. It washes away bacteria and promotes healing. One of those a day can have the sitz in it. It is wonderful and strained out, so you don't actually sit in the herbs, just their infusion. Good for your body. Good for hemmeroids, good for bleeding.


edited to add: I don't do anything immediately after the birth. I usually have the sitz in a bottle that I mix with warm water instead of toilet paper. I start my baths around 12-20 hours or so. I didn't bring my babes in until days later.

[LoveChild421]

I took a shower myself and a sitzbath with herbs but I wouldn't want to wash the baby because they smell so darn good! I didn't even sponge bathe ds until he was about 4-5 days old and that freshly born buttery baby smell had left.

[teachinmaof3]

My mw doesn't but I buy a herbal bath to take afterwards. I loved it! During the day we had it simmering in the crockpot..made the house smell SO good! It was great to soak in after the birth w/ my dd! It did help her cord come off sooner...less than a week if I remember right.

[PapayaVagina]

I really want to get some herbs together to offer herbal baths some day. I love post birth pics of mamas with their babies in the tub . So sweet.

[witchbaby]

my midwives prepare one for you and, i must say, i'm looking forward to a warm, cozy, herbal bath with my little one! a can call my parents (who will be watching our daughter during the birth) and my best friend during that time, then we can all crawl into bed together for the newborn exam and some snacks!