A closer look at the postpartum essentials we chose for The Recovery Kit, why each one earned its place, and how they’re designed to support the realities of those first days after birth.
There’s a lot you can buy for postpartum.
Some things will become absolute essentials. Some will be used once. And some will sit untouched in a bathroom cupboard while you wonder why every postpartum checklist on the internet told you that you needed them.
When we put together The Recovery Kit, we didn’t want to fill a box for the sake of filling it.
We wanted to think about what those first days after birth actually look like — the bleeding, swelling, tenderness, bathroom trips, feeding, thirst, exhaustion and the very real need for small things that make you feel a little more comfortable and cared for.
So every item in The Recovery Kit has a reason for being there.
The Upside-Down Peri Bottle
Let’s start with something wonderfully unglamorous: going to the toilet after giving birth.
Whether you’ve experienced tearing, stitches, swelling or simply the tenderness that can come after a vaginal birth, wiping with toilet paper may be the absolute last thing you feel like doing.
That’s why a peri bottle was an easy inclusion for us.
Our upside-down peri bottle allows you to gently rinse the perineal area with water while sitting on the toilet. The angled nozzle makes it easy to direct the water where you need it without having to maneuver yourself into an awkward position.
It’s simple. It’s practical. And during those first postpartum bathroom trips, that matters.
TOMS Organic Maternity Pads
Postpartum bleeding is one of those parts of recovery that everyone knows about, but it’s easy to underestimate just how important comfort becomes when you’re wearing a pad around the clock.
We chose TOMS Organic Maternity Pads because they’re made with soft, breathable organic cotton and are specifically designed for postpartum bleeding.
We didn’t feel the need to overcomplicate this inclusion. You need maternity pads after birth. We wanted the ones in our kit to feel as comfortable and gentle as possible against an already sensitive area.
Witch Hazel Spray
The peri bottle helps you cleanse. The witch hazel spray adds another little layer of soothing care.
The Peri Spray contains witch hazel and is designed specifically for the perineal area after birth.
It’s also one of those products that requires almost no effort to use — which becomes surprisingly important when you’re caring for a newborn and operating on very little sleep.
A quick spray can be incorporated into those regular bathroom trips without adding another complicated step to postpartum recovery.
Reusable Gel Perineal Ice Packs
These were something we really wanted to get right.
Cold therapy can feel incredibly soothing when the perineal area is swollen and tender after birth, but we wanted something designed specifically for the body rather than a bulky generic gel pack.
Our reusable perineal ice packs are slim and shaped to sit comfortably where you actually need them. The gel is sectioned throughout the pack so it stays evenly distributed rather than moving to one end, and the packs remain flexible when frozen.
Each Recovery Kit contains two, so you can rotate them between use and the freezer.
They also come with soft covers designed to easily snap around a maternity pad and your underwear, creating a simple way to use cooling relief without having to hold an ice pack in place.
And yes, we gave them a gum leaf design – because something can be extremely practical and still be beautiful.
Magnesium Bath Salts
Not everything in postpartum recovery needs to be about fixing something.
Some things can simply be about giving your body a moment to soften.
We included Magnesium Bath Salts as a small invitation to rest when the opportunity comes. A warm bath (once healed), a foot soak, or even just ten quiet minutes can feel very different when you’re in the thick of early motherhood.
Postpartum care shouldn’t only mean caring for the parts of your body that hurt. It should also include creating little moments where you get to be cared for, too.
Hydration Sachet
Birth, breastfeeding, broken sleep and spending hours with a baby attached to you can make one very basic thing surprisingly easy to forget:
Drink.
We included a hydration sachet because hydration is such a simple part of looking after yourself postpartum, but plain water isn’t always particularly appealing when you’re exhausted and thirsty.
It’s an easy addition to your water bottle and, more importantly, another little reminder that your body has needs during this time as well.
Nursing Tea
And finally, something warm.
We included a sachet of Nursing Tea, a naturopath-formulated blend of organic herbs created to support breastfeeding.
But there’s another reason we like having tea in the kit.
Making a cup of tea is a tiny ritual.
It’s something you can drink while feeding your baby, something someone else can make for you, and something that asks you to sit down for a minute.
Because postpartum recovery isn’t just clinical. It’s physical, emotional and deeply human.
What we deliberately wanted The Recovery Kit to be
We could have made it bigger.
We could have packed it with every postpartum product we could find and called it the “ultimate” postpartum kit.
But more isn’t necessarily more helpful.
We wanted The Recovery Kit to cover the things that matter most in those early days: gentle bathroom care, bleeding, swelling and tenderness, hydration, feeding support and rest.
Things you’ll actually reach for.
Things that make an uncomfortable moment a little more comfortable.
Things that remind a new mother that while everyone is understandably enamoured with the tiny new person who has just arrived, her body has just done something enormous too.
The Recovery Kit was created for that body.
And for her.
