After Birth Herbal Bath

Strong healing herbal bath for mama and baby directly after labor

This is one of those old school, passed down practices that you wont find much about on google but has been utilized by midwives and traditional cultures for years.

I learned this from my mom, who took an herbal bath like this directly after each of her 7 births. She has since then been making an herb blend like this for women around her for years and years, always with amazing results!

Unfortunately c-section mothers can’t take this bath fully, but can still use cup amounts of this blend to make sits baths which will be very healing also.

Most people have heard the advice for new mamas to avoid taking a bath for weeks after birth. The reasoning here is to keep any bacteria or infection from moving up into the uterus while the cervix is still open. Additionally, if you have stitches from any tearing, long frequent soaking could cause them to soften before they are ready.

However! This bath is designed to be taken immediately after birth and can be repeated for the first 3 days, even if you have stitches. If you give birth in hospital and don’t come home for a day or two you can go ahead and make the bath then. The combination of herbs in this bath, along with the sheer amount of them and the strength of this infusion is what makes the difference. As opposed to a bath of straight water, this has potent antibacterial, antimicrobial and antiseptic properties and at this strength will cause the bath to be “aseptic” meaning free from bacteria.

Not only that, but this bath will actually help to speed healing and dry up suture sites, making it also beneficial for baby’s umbilical cord- another thing we are told to keep dry for swifter healing! The herbs make all the difference. This isn’t a sitz bath (which are also great and have wonderful healing benefits, but are much weaker) this is a medicine bath, full of healing properties and free from contamination.

I took this bath right about an hour after my second was delivered, after the placenta came and once he had nursed for a while. Baby came into the bath for a few minutes and got some of the herby goodness on his umbilical chord, and then my older sister fed me bone broth while I sat in for a further 20 minutes or so. It felt so so good after giving birth and I’m sure it’s why even my midwife was pleasantly surprised at how fast my couple of little tears and bruises healed!