Not so basic homebirth supplies - Page 2

[jecaly]

anyone have a recipe for that honey-herb perineum balm mixture? that sounds lovely!

*j

[MAMom]

Originally Posted by Past_VNE

Oh yeah! I forgot about the honey. I was so skeptical and chalked it up to looneys...but tried it and it was friggin' awesome!

Honey has antimicrobial properties...

Here's a link about honey for wound care:
http://www.dermnetnz.org/treatments/honey.html

There was also research recently about using honey for treatment of MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus).

[avasmom]

Okay for those of you that make the different types of frozen pads which pads do you use, and how do you do this. I'm sure this sounds like a dumb question but it sounds like a great idea but I'm just wondering, how much with hazel, water, or tea do you put on them? Do they get soggy and wet when you are using them?

Keri- Do you find comfrey tea at like a health food store, and you only put it on guaze and freeze it right? or do you use pads?

Okay sorry if you feel like you are explaining this to a three year old, but lately I feel like thats the state of my mind,lol.

[MotheringHeart]

Okay, this is a weird suggestion...BUT

I always throw up during my labor and it turned out that I wasn't anywhere near a sink/toilet/tub when I threw up during my last labor. It was a good thing I had some nausea and was able to announce that I wanted to throw up. Soooooo I definitely will be putting an aluminum mixing bowl in my pile of homebirth supplies, so that everyone knows where that can be found when the time comes!

[sarenka]

The frozen pad thing for the people who were asking - it totally saved my life last time around. I just ran a disposable pad under the tap - but I don't see why a flannel or cloth pad wouldn't work too - just plain water, froze it and used one every time I went to the bathroom. They only work once, after that they do get leaky, etc, but honestly for the first bowel movement they are amazing.

And for first pees, just in a bowl of warm water.

I used the comfrey for baths. That was good too, but for the pads it's the temp that's inportant rather than the contents I think.

[mwherbs]

when freezing pads you can lay them over an upside down bowl and it will give it a curved shape.
I do think that depending on what you have going on- an herb mix can make a difference in healing time - witch hazel is astringent and helps resolve bruises and varicosities and helps resolve inflammation-
comfrey is for quick healing but can be so quick that it can dissolve stitches before they are ready- so if someone has extensive stitches I recommend using comfrey later rather than sooner - it causes rapid cell proliferation , but it also does some rapid break down of sutures ( it use to be the main ingredient in septic tank additives to clear the tank or reduce the bulk of the waste).

[kerikadi]

I freeze my comfrey compresses and when they thaw out they are sitting on a Mama cloth so that absorbs the tea melt. My MW gave us a baggy of comfrey root chopped up but I know you can get comfrey leaf at www.gentlemoon.com, I already bought some and I have WAY too much so if you want to PM me your addy i'd be happy to send you some. I have only used it on frozen 4X4's and this is something we do at 38ish weeks so they are ready to go. Last time I folded them in half after saturating and would layer them between celophane but I think this time I'm going to fold them in half and put them in snack size zipper bags so they are easier to get to. When you first apply, the cold is somewhat shocking but it feels wonderful almost immediately! I healed up VERY fast after my 2 homebirths.

I've never had stitches but that is a good point and something to keep in mind.

The frozen cloths do sound nice but I'm still trying to figure out how you don't soak your bed when they thaw out.

Keri

[Yo Becca]

Hey ladies - I had a really long, drawn out healing process after DD's birth (3rd degree tear, stiches). I did daily sitz baths for at least 6 weeks - just with plain water - and also used the peri bottle and witch hazel pads (mostly as a wipe after peeing and pooping). I'm trying to plan ahead for healing items this time. I'll definitely make better use of witch hazel pads this time as a compress.

For those who have done the herbal sitz baths - do you think they made a difference? I've been wanting to get a kit, but don't want to waste money also. Is it better to just do a single-ingredient, like a comfrey stiz bath?

My plan this time:
Arnica tablets
sitz baths
witch hazel pads

[kerikadi]

With my first two I just did plain water and my recovery was slower but I also pushed and delivered on my back in a hospital.
There is an herbal bath mix from www.gentlemoon.com that sounds good and it's not too pricey. To make the herbs last as long as possible use one cup of mix with a large stock pot - we use our spagetti pot (the biggest pot we have) full of water. We steep the herbs on the stove for at least 30 minutes, we place a colander in the tub and pour the mix through the colander then we put the herbs the colander caught back in the big pot to steep again next time. When we steep them next time we had 1/4-1/2 cup of fresh herbs to the already used herbs. Doing it this way helped our herbs last at least 2 weeks taking 2 baths per day. Once you ran out you could still take a regular plain water sitz bath.

It is also great to take your baby into the herbal with with you - this helped my girls cord stumps heal so much faster and it is so nice to have that skin to skin contact

Keri

[alisonsage]

subbing to this awesome thread!

[Sea_Gal]

This is an awesome thread!

Wile I haven't had my home birth yet...

Here was an interesting sugestion I got:

"Make your own flexible icepacks by combining rubbing alcohol and water.
Use one part alcohol to 3 parts water. If you increase the ratio of alcohol,
the frozen mixture will be slushier, gentler. Put this mixture into a
condom and tie the end closed like you would a balloon. After it is
frozen you may want to put another condom over it. This can then be
wrapped in soft flannel. The idea is that this shape would be more
ergonomic. It is to be applied the same way you put a hot dog in a bun."





Also I chose to pick up some disposable plates, cups, ect.
I figure it will be nice to not have to worry about dishes.
I know it's bad for the enviroment, but I am doing cloth diapers.

Keep the ideas comming!

[Nani]

: That sounds like a great idea!!!

[kerikadi]

Today I picked up some Bach's Olive original flower essences. In another thread someone mentioned it would be good for exhaustion during labor. The bottle says "restores energy when you are physically and mentally exhausted" I can see it coming in handy during labor but even more so after birth.

Another thing I picked up a couple of weeks ago that I LOVE is an extra soft bathmat for my tub. If you are birthing in a tub or just spend a lot of time relaxing in your bathtub I would strongly recommend it. I got it at Linnens N Things and paid extra for the double thick one and it is WONDERFUL!

Keri

[mwherbs]

so you gals are giving me some ideas to pass along to clients--

I also thought of a blow up pillow that can be put into your bath tub- I pick up one or 2 just to have for a birth- they cost 1$

[kerikadi]

Originally Posted by mwherbs

I also thought of a blow up pillow that can be put into your bath tub- I pick up one or 2 just to have for a birth- they cost 1$

Yep, I got one of those too and we will also get a couple of cheap regular pillows to put in the tub that we plan to throw away afterwards.

Keri

[Nani]

I'm thinking the blowup pillow might slide up from under my butt when I move, maybe it can be attached at the pool bottom?
A regular pillow sounds pretty useful too.

[kerikadi]

Originally Posted by Nani

I'm thinking the blowup pillow might slide up from under my butt when I move, maybe it can be attached at the pool bottom?
A regular pillow sounds pretty useful too.

My blow up one has suction cups on it and I have it where I rest my head & neck so part of it goes into the water and part of it is out. This way when I rest semi reclined or laying on my side my neck and head are not on a hard surface but something soft. The regular pillows I will use for under my bum if I'm in the tub for a while.

Keri

[vanessab23]

Originally Posted by Sea_Gal

"Make your own flexible icepacks by combining rubbing alcohol and water.
Use one part alcohol to 3 parts water. If you increase the ratio of alcohol,
the frozen mixture will be slushier, gentler. Put this mixture into a
condom and tie the end closed like you would a balloon. After it is
frozen you may want to put another condom over it. This can then be
wrapped in soft flannel. The idea is that this shape would be more
ergonomic. It is to be applied the same way you put a hot dog in a bun."

that's a great idea! b/c the frozen condom does NOT sound comfortable. making it flexible sounds great. do you (or anyone) know if the alcohol would break down the condom? maybe that's why they say to double it up?

p.s. this thread is great-- it really makes me want to have another baby

[mwherbs]

so things that we have done for some things like when we used a stock tank is to put blankets and pillows on the bottom and then used plastic as a liner- the other thing it did was make a contrast to the black so you could see if mom was bleeding or if there was mec. and in a darkened room it is quite a feat w/o contrast--

you can fill a blow up pillow with water don't fill it as full as you might with air- and see- it doesn't try to float away from you and the suction cups can help

[paisley]

Originally Posted by kerikadi

Yep, I got one of those too and we will also get a couple of cheap regular pillows to put in the tub that we plan to throw away afterwards.

Keri

I knew those $5 pillows at KMart were calling to me for a reason!

This thread has been such a great help. Thanks for sharing all your ideas, everyone!