We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum. This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are - or become - political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.

What to pack in Labour Bag?

1679111232

Comments

  • Greenstuff_2
    Greenstuff_2 Posts: 225 Forumite
    100 Posts
    BTW, back to hospital bag, if you use Arnica cream you can smear it on the pad as opposed to you so no need to touch sore areas, love the kitchen towel idea, will deff use that one.
    Also I've been putting bits of loose change in a purse in my hospital bag, one so I've plenty for phone calls shop etc, and also parking very useful for appointments - minimum hospital car park charge being £2!!

    Also, does anyone know if the thin maternity towels are as good as thick traditional ones? I got some with wings but not confident they will live up to the job, should I use tradish ones for the first few days?
    Waddle you do eh?
  • Jay-Jay_4
    Jay-Jay_4 Posts: 7,351 Forumite
    Greenstuff wrote:
    Ok I'm convinced, where do I get my ball from?

    Argos, Index, Asda...practically anywhere. It's gym ball/stability ball/excercise ball.
    if you use Arnica cream you can smear it on the pad as opposed to you so no need to touch sore areas

    Also try the tablets. You need to take loads throughout the day but I really noticed the difference when I'd had stitches.
    does anyone know if the thin maternity towels are as good as thick traditional ones? I got some with wings but not confident they will live up to the job, should I use tradish ones for the first few days?

    This is all down to personal preference. I couldn't stand the bulkyness of maternity towels so I used Always nightime pads which I thought were fantastic. I didn't have any syntometrine after baby number two so bled quite a lot initially, the Always pads coped fine and were very comfy.

    If you feel that a bulkier pad offers you more security then go for it, maybe buy a pack of each anyway as the Always ones would still be useful as the bleeding subsides.

    I don't know if anyone's mentioned it on this thread but the incontinence pads from the chemist are handy for under your bum in bed when you get home just in case of any mishaps.
    Just run, run and keep on running!

  • Greenstuff_2
    Greenstuff_2 Posts: 225 Forumite
    100 Posts
    Thanks Jay jay, I didnt fancy the bulky ones but the thin ones seemed a little flimsy as I also dont intend to have the syntometrine injection but they were the only ones I found with wings, I shall get some always too.
    Waddle you do eh?
  • jellyhead
    jellyhead Posts: 21,555 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    i was also intending to say no to the injection, silly me i didn't realise i'd bleed more afterwards lol! i like kotex night-time pads, do you think they'll be okay? i'm a heavy bleeder anyhow, i take tranexamic acid during my period to try to stem the blood flow (sorry if TMI lol!) and have found kotex night-time pads to be quite fab.
    52% tight
  • JULIE
    JULIE Posts: 210 Forumite
    jellyhead wrote:
    i've never met an atticus before. mind you, the name my son wants for our baby is reuben, and i've never met one of those either lol! i mentioned it in the staff room on thursday and one of the teachers had a great grandfather named reuben, so there must be somebody somewhere with the name - i'm a bit wary of giving a name that's totally unique (although it's not made up, but nobody seems to know that it's biblical, odd that so many other biblical names are commonplace), but at the same time i don't want anything from the ten most common because i know i hated being called sharon along with more than half the girls at school lol!

    glad you're both well and he's gaining weight :-) i can't wait to have my baby, i'm absolutely massive but i'm only 29 weeks lol! i can't believe i could get any bigger! the morning sickness, headahces and nosebleeds have come back too so i'm very grumpy, and i can't sleep. somebody on the bounty forum says argos sell one of those v-shaped cushions, for getting comfortable at night, then for breastfeeding, and for sitting baby up in later. it's only six pounds or so compared to 30 in all the catalogues, so i'm going to have a look. apparently they sell cheap birth balls too (although i'm not sure what you actually do with them?!). a midwife has agreed to squeeze us in to one of her antenatal classes on labour so maybe i'll find out then. we've also got a tour of the hospital booked so i can find out if we need to bring a birth ball/tens machine etc. or if they can be borrowed in hospital.

    so julia, did you have everything you needed in your labour bag? any last minute tips for the rest of us? :-)



    yes fortunately had everything......take lots of snacks... i had Atticus at 11.55pm...,got up to the ward at around 2am.. v hungry

    i used Always ultra night long with wings too... fab...

    message short n sweet... someone is hungry and needs feed...oh Rheuben is a Jewish name....we considered that one too
    "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view...
    until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it"

    Harper Lee - To Kill A Mockingbird
  • jellyhead
    jellyhead Posts: 21,555 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    i was talking to hubby about the name last night, saying how everybody knows a reuben but not an anglsih one, he pointed out that the bible isn't set in england lol! there are 9 names on the list and 2 of them are reuben but theoretically hubby could cross out both of them so they won't be in the final 3. i'm crossing out nick and dylan, spud is crossing out nathaniel but that still leaves 2 reubens, leo, owen, william and joseph/joe of which 3 will be crossed out and 3 will make the final 3 (not sure if baby will have all 3 though). i thought at the time that this method was a good idea of hubby's but must admit that now i'm 30 weeks pregnant, know he's a boy and have seen him in 3 scans i want to know NOW what his name will be, i don't want to wait 6 weeks to see if hubby crosses out both reubens lol! baby is known as little roo by everyone, if he'll eventually be called joe or will i'd rather get used to it sooner rather than later lol!
    52% tight
  • Bargain_Rzl
    Bargain_Rzl Posts: 6,254 Forumite
    Isn't Leo one of those names which has shot up in popularity recently? Perhaps one of the others is better from the point of view of not being one of 3 Leos in his class at school? I like Joe, that's my brother's name.

    My name was chosen because all the names my parents liked started with the same letter of the alphabet, and they had a shortlist of three (all biblical). Suddenly before I was born, two of the names on the list seemed to rocket in popularity, so my parents went for the third.

    My sister and I each have a first and middle name, all of which are biblical and mean things when put together (one meaning of my name is "merciful princess", and my sister's means "blessed lamb" - work it out if you like!). My brother has biblical first and second names, and a third after my dad - the name my parents had lined up in case he was a girl didn't have a third name, but my dad reckoned three first initials look good on cricket scoreboards :rotfl: (don't know when he got that idea - my sister and I both know what our "boy names" were, and they were only 2 names each...)

    Just don't do what my grandfather did when my dad was born in 1953. When he registered the birth he got the first and middle name muddled up, and my dad has consequently been known by his middle name all his life!
    :)Operation Get in Shape :)
    MURPHY'S NO MORE PIES CLUB MEMBER #124
  • Bargain_Rzl
    Bargain_Rzl Posts: 6,254 Forumite
    I also knew somebody at uni who ended up being named Wiliemhina because her mother... either couldn't spell Wilhelmina or was spaced out on medication at the time of registering the birth :eek:
    :)Operation Get in Shape :)
    MURPHY'S NO MORE PIES CLUB MEMBER #124
  • Jay-Jay_4
    Jay-Jay_4 Posts: 7,351 Forumite
    jellyhead wrote:
    i was also intending to say no to the injection, silly me i didn't realise i'd bleed more afterwards lol!

    It's just a bit heavier that's all because you womb hasn't had that massive contraction from the drugs, it contracts gradually so it seems like there's a lot more blood loss initially. You're gonna bleed quite heavily for a few days anyway so it's not such a big deal. I found that my bleeding without Syntometrine was heavier but didn't last as long as with previous baby (with Syntometrine).

    It really bugs me that they give everyone Syntomentrine whether you need it or not. Yes it speeds up delivery of the placenta and reduced bleeding initially but WHY do they have to speed everything up? "Quick quick...get that placenta out then we can go and have a cup of tea!!!!" :rolleyes:



    rant over :D
    Just run, run and keep on running!

  • Greenstuff_2
    Greenstuff_2 Posts: 225 Forumite
    100 Posts
    Jay-Jay wrote:
    It's just a bit heavier that's all because you womb hasn't had that massive contraction from the drugs, it contracts gradually so it seems like there's a lot more blood loss initially. You're gonna bleed quite heavily for a few days anyway so it's not such a big deal. I found that my bleeding without Syntometrine was heavier but didn't last as long as with previous baby (with Syntometrine).

    It really bugs me that they give everyone Syntomentrine whether you need it or not. Yes it speeds up delivery of the placenta and reduced bleeding initially but WHY do they have to speed everything up? "Quick quick...get that placenta out then we can go and have a cup of tea!!!!" :rolleyes:



    rant over :D

    I agree, they do it as there was a study done years ago when they first developed the drug which showed that Mums not given the drug were more prone to haemorrhaging so much so that the study was abandoned half way through and all were then given the drug as routine.
    Trouble was that firstly the study was done by the drug company, and more importantly it was done when the vast majority of babies were bottlefed.
    Putting the baby to the breast at birth (which is really encouraged now - even if you intend to bottle feed they encourage you to do a one off feed) releases the natural gentle amounts of syntometrine that contracts everything just as it should.
    Also if you ask for the cord to stop pulsing before it's clamped and cut not only does baby get massive doses of zinc and vitamin K that come in the last few pumps but the placenta has stopped working so is not so filled with blood.
    You can have a homeopathic remedy that will help and is supposed to be fantastic, it's part of the birthing kit sold by Helios homeopathic pharmacy for £26 that has loads of invaluable remedies for pregnancy such as to turn a breech baby and one to help kick start labour, to labour pain, panic etc., to afterwards such as mastitis and good old Arnica.
    If you didnt want the whole kit you can get one or 2 individual remedies.

    I decided not to have the syntometrine this time as last time my uterus contracted down so hard the placenta couldnt be born, my midwife had a right battle with - not what you need, and then a piece was left behind, thankfully it came away by itself a week later thanks to me still drinking the raspberry leaf tea.
    Waddle you do eh?
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 348.3K Banking & Borrowing
  • 252.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 452.4K Spending & Discounts
  • 240.8K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 617.1K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 175.6K Life & Family
  • 254K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.