«  
  »

Fun Things Friday: Post-partum Herb and Salt Bath

~Order this ready-made from my online store!~

My “Fun Things Friday” posts will probably be mostly about pregnancy, birth and babies for the next couple of months. Here’s my latest project. Isn’t it beautiful?!

When our first daughter was born, the nurses told my hubby to go out and buy comfrey for post-partum baths. We had no idea what they were talking about, but he hunted some down and we stashed the mysterious green leaves in our cupboard. They were ignored for a very long time, but now that I know how amazing the healing properties of comfrey are, I wish I could go back and change that. Comfrey has the  most amazing healing properties for bones, muscles and skin! We’ve used it for my dad’s broken toe, my sprained hip, several exacto knife slices (all at the same time… don’t ask) and countless scrapes and bruises. Pretty much any injury gets either a comfrey poultice or salve in our house. I decided to be prepared this time around, so six weeks before my due date I’ve mixed up a batch of herbs and salts for post-partum baths. After my 36 hours of back labor with my first, I’m counting on this mix to help me heal faster this time around. After lots of research, here’s the mix I came up with.

  • 2 cups comfrey leaf: As I mentioned, comfrey is amazingly healing! It will help heal up all of that damaged tissue and it even has a numbing effect after several minutes. It helps reduce swelling, too.
  • 1 1/2 cups uvi ursi: I have never used this herb, but after seeing the rave reviews about it for post-partum healing, I decided to give it a try. It is antibacterial and reduces inflammation.
  • 1 1/2 cups Celtic sea salt: This salt is full of minerals that are stripped away from processed sea salt. These minerals support the healing of the skin while reducing inflammation and preventing infection. Celtic sea salt also helps to draw toxins out of the body, which is always a good thing.
  • 1 cup dried lavender flowers: Apart from the heavenly soothing scent, lavender is also quite the healing herb! It is antibacterial, anti-fungal and it reduces inflammation. It helps prevent scarring and actually speeds cellular renewal, which helps you heal more quickly (just like the comfrey)! Besides, it just looks pretty! :-)
  • 1/4 cup Himalayan salt: Like Celtic sea salt, this is full of minerals. I decided to add some as a mineral boost to the mix, since I already had it. It’s not necessary, but it’s a fun addition.

To use, fill a mesh tea ball full and put it in a large heat-proof bowl or put 1/3 cup of the mixture into the bowl and simply strain the herbs out with a fine mesh strainer when they are finished steeping. Fill the bowl with boiling water, cover with a plate or skillet lid and let it steep until it’s just cool enough to use. If you think of it, you can make the tea stronger by swishing the tea ball around a few times or stirring the water, but it’s not necessary. Don’t burn yourself, but use it as warm as possible to get the maximum benefit. Remove the tea ball or strain out the herbs and pour the tea into a “sitz” bath or the tub. Add as much warm water as needed, but try not to dilute it too much. Soak for as long as you can and then pat dry, don’t rinse. For the first several days after the baby is born, I plan to use this frequently.

Another wonderful way that I’m planning on using it is in place of those chemical-filled “cold pads” that the hospital gives for pain relief the first couple of days. The plan is to make up a bowl of the tea and then dampen some cheap pieces of flannel material with it and freeze them. I happen to have a huge chunk of cheap flannel already, so I’ll just cut it into rectangles about the size of a placemat and fold them into small rectangles. I’ll dip each bundle in the tea and wring them out and layer them on parchment paper. Then, I’ll put them in a large ziploc (making sure to keep them all flat) and stick them in the freezer. To use them, I’ll probably put one thin layer of dry flannel over the top. I plan to throw them away after use, but I’m sure there are some very frugal ladies out there that would wash and reuse.  :-)

I’m also planning on using this tea in the peri bottle in place of the warm water that is usually used. For you ladies that haven’t yet had a baby, the peri bottle is usually filled with warm water and is use for rinsing off after using the bathroom. Trust us, first-time moms-to-be, you will NOT want to use toilet paper for a few days! Using this tea instead of plain water will help speed healing, prevent infection and ease any pain.

Update: I used this mix in the bath, which was very soothing and healing. My favorite way to use it, though, ended up being in the peri bottle in place of water. The frequent application of the herbal tea seemed to really speed healing and ease discomfort! I also used the cold pads a few times, but since I didn’t have any tearing, I didn’t need them as much. With my first baby, they would have been so soothing for the minor tearing I had.

~Order this ready-made from my online store!~

This post is linked up at:
Print Friendly
Share

Related posts:

  1. My Top 10 Favorite Herbs: Part 1
  2. Natural Remedies for Abscesses
  3. Beef and Bell Pepper Stew
  4. My Top 10 Favorite Herbs: Part 2
October 7th, 2011 | Tags: , , | Category: Mommy Care, Natural Health

17 comments to Fun Things Friday: Post-partum Herb and Salt Bath

Leave a Reply