A witch hazel pad, sometimes called a postpartum padsicle, is a hospital bag essential that’s easy to whip up at home, and you’ll be thanking your lucky stars you did. And so will your lady bits.
Mum Elisa Croux has shared her after-birth secret weapon – homemade padsicles, or witch hazel pads. It’s a regular pad, with a few special additions that turn them into superpowered vagina soothers. Padsicles draw on the healing properties of a few key ingredients, to help relieve vaginal soreness and postpartum pain after giving birth.
“These were a lifesaver when I had Stella,” Elisa explained. “I’m making witch hazel padsicles for all my friends and I wanted to share the recipe with all of you too. Super fast and easy to make, in five minutes I managed to make 20 pads!”‘
How to make witch hazel pads
Just a few ingredients and a little time is all you’ll need to make a batch of DIY witch hazel pads to pop away ready to soothe after birth. If you have postpartum bleeding, it’s a good idea to use them with an adult nappy or mesh underwear.
What you need for DIY padsicles:
Witch Hazel
Aloe Vera Gel
Sanitary napkins (maxi pads)
Lavender essential oil (optional)
Elisa says she used medicated, pain relieving aloe gel, as it helped numb the area after stitches.
What to do:
1: Open the pad and keep the paper. For each of the padsicles add:
2 tbsp of witch hazel
1 tbsp of aloe vera
drops of lavender oil
2: Mix it all together and generously spread over the padsicle. Then fold it in half, before refolding.
3: Store in a freezer-proof ziplock bag and pop them in the freezer
How to make frozen after-birth soother
Here’s another really simple after-birth soother that will make good use of any condoms you haven’t needed over the past nine months!
Midwife Edwina Sharrock from Birth Beat tells Mum’s Grapevine these are amazing on your perineum after a vaginal birth as part of postpartum care. They’ll help reduce swelling and provide pain relief.
What you need:
Condoms
Maxi pads (maternity pads)
Water
Alcohol (optional)*
What to do:
1: Partially fill a few condoms with water, and freeze.
*You can mix a little alcohol with the water before putting it into the condom. This will make the water more of a ‘slushie’ consistency, rather than ice.
2: Take one condom when frozen, slit open a sanitary napkin (with wings are best) and place it inside.
3: Put the pad in underwear as you normally would.
