You Should Have A Salty Bottom!

Feb 1, 2017

After birth use sitz bath with epsom salt to promote healing

I love my sitz bath! The day after I had my first son my vagina felt like it had been stretched over a garbage bin like a too small grocery sack. It was sore and felt like it was somehow a different shape.

Oh! Let’s not forget the stitches!

*Warning!!!*

We will be talking about body parts here, folks. And we’re using the real names for them.

Birth can be rough on vaginas, vulvas and anuses. The tissues, though designed to stretch well beyond what you might think they naturally can, often experience minor or major traumas in the form of microtears, abrasions and tears – both small and large.

Taking steps to aid healing will help you feel more comfortable and prevent infection in these delicate but resilient tissues.

That’s where epsom salts and a sitz bath come in.

A recent study in the New England Journal Of Medicine found that the use of a salt solution when cleaning wounds was more effective at preventing infection than the use of soap to clean the wounds.

What does that mean for pregnant people and new parents?  It means go get yourself some epsom salts and use them in the immediate postpartum period!

Mix some epsom salts with warm water according to the manufacturers recommendations and then put that in a sitz bath, your normal bath or a peri bottle. Use the peri bottle during and after urination and bowel movements to clean the area and then pat gently dry with toilet tissue. Use a sitz bath or a regular bath to bathe the genitals in warm salty water to promote healing.

Need someone to show you how to set up a sitz bath?  Our postpartum doulas can help you figure out how these odd contraptions work.  Or let us draw you a comforting bath and watch baby while you take some time for yourself and your health.

Your vagina works hard for you, take some time to give it a little special care.