The Postpartum Recovery Kit
Updated: 2 days ago
After birth, almost all the attention goes to the baby. Meanwhile your body is doing one of the biggest repair jobs it will ever do. You cannot speed that recovery up. What you can do is create the conditions in which it can quietly get on with it. And you can start during pregnancy.
What happens in your body after birth
After birth a recovery period begins in which healing and hormonal adjustment happen at the same time. Your uterus shrinks back to its original size, wounds heal and your hormone levels drop quickly. Your blood volume, pelvic floor and abdominal muscles are finding their balance again too. That usually takes longer than the six weeks people often mention.
All of that costs energy. Rest here does not mean sitting still, but asking less of your body for a while. Then there is energy left for healing. If your body has to do too much too soon, recovery takes longer.
How rest carries through to your recovery and to breastfeeding is explained in the invisible side of breastfeeding.
Why preparing makes such a difference
Recovering costs energy. Every errand that still has to be done, everything you have to go looking for, comes out of that same energy. And it takes you away from where you want to be: with your child and with yourself.
What you arrange beforehand, nobody has to think about later. That mainly buys you calm and attention.
Preparing starts during pregnancy. Getting to know and control your pelvic floor is part of that: the better you know those muscles before birth, the more easily you find them again afterwards. How that works per stage is in The Pelvic Floor Plan.
Your partner can prepare too. Why that matters and what helps is explained in how fathers can prepare for the postpartum period.
The Postpartum Recovery Kit
A postpartum recovery kit is not a package you buy. It is a collection of things you put ready in advance. That way you do not have to fetch or look for anything in the first weeks.
This list is built from my own practice as a maternity care assistant. It is what I see helping in the postpartum week.
The list falls into three parts: what your body needs to heal, what helps you to rest, and what needs to be ready in your surroundings.
Download your Recovery Kit checklist here
Free, one A4 to tick off. The underlined words are products I have had good experiences with myself. It is about the type of product, not the brand.
Want to know why each product is on the list and how much of it you need? Read on. It is all below, item by item.
Your body
This part is about what your body needs to heal. You will use most of it in the first two weeks.
Maternity pads or maxi pants
After birth you lose lochia: a mix of blood, wound fluid and mucus from the uterus. In the first five days that is usually heavy. After that it eases and you need thinner pads. You change about every three hours, so count on around eight a day in the first days.
You do not need both. Maxi pants give the smallest chance of leaking through, maternity pads sit more comfortably for others. Either way, choose something that holds a lot. With maternity pads, look at two things: no plastic top layer, and a bit longer and wider than a normal sanitary pad.
How many: three packs of fifteen maternity pads for the first week. If you combine them with maxi pants, two packs of pants plus two packs of pads. For weeks two to six, two packs of thinner sanitary pads are enough.
Mesh underwear
Mesh underwear keeps the pad soft and firmly in place, without squeezing around your belly and pelvis. They are washable, so four to five is enough.
Bed pads
Bed pads protect your bed, sofa or chair from leaks in the first days. You do not have to keep thinking about stains. Your maternity package already contains a pack. Buy one extra and you have enough. Later you can use them as changing mats.
Cold packs
Cooling mainly helps in the first 24 to 48 hours. In that period swelling develops from the strain on the tissue. Cooling slows the blood flow for a while, so less fluid builds up and the pain eases. After about two days the swelling has peaked. From then on gentle warmth helps instead, because your body drains the fluid better.
There are two kinds. Cooling maternity pads are ordinary pads with a cooling element inside, sold by the box. There are also reusable packs with gel beads that you freeze. Take two of those, so there is always one cold and ready.
A cheap alternative is apple syrup in a ziplock bag in the freezer. Apple syrup does not go hard, so the bag keeps moulding to your body. Two of those are handy as well.
How many: two cold packs, or one box of cooling maternity pads.
Peri bottle
A peri bottle is a squeeze bottle. You rinse the healing area with lukewarm water after using the toilet, instead of wiping. Wiping can be painful at first and puts pressure on stitches. Rinsing keeps the area clean, and passing urine stings less because it is diluted straight away.
How many: one bottle is enough.
Paracetamol
Paracetamol reduces the pain in the first days. Less pain makes moving, resting and caring for your baby more comfortable. In the first five days it is often advised to take 1000 mg every six hours, on a fixed schedule. That keeps a steady level and the pain does not build up first. Your midwife or maternity care assistant will tell you which schedule suits you.
That comes to eight tablets of 500 mg a day. Check how many are in a pack, because that differs per brand. Do you find pills hard to swallow? You can dissolve paracetamol in water or buy it as granules. How many: around forty tablets of 500 mg.
Thermometer
Take your temperature daily in the first days. A raised temperature can be an early sign of an infection, for example of the uterus, a wound or your breasts. Use your own thermometer, separate from your baby's. That way no bacteria are passed on.
How many: one, just for you.
Supplements
Supplements are not necessary and this is not medical advice. A varied diet already covers most of it. Still, many women pick something, often for the bowels or after heavy blood loss. If in doubt, ask your midwife or GP, certainly if you take medication.
Vitamin C. Contributes to the production of collagen, and you need collagen for wound healing.
Magnesium citrate. Draws water into the bowel and softens the stool. Helpful if going to the toilet is hard.
Magnesium bisglycinate. Contributes to normal muscle function, without the laxative effect of citrate. Choose one of the two, not both.
Psyllium husk. Adds bulk to the stool, so you have to push less. Drink plenty of water with it.
Iron. After heavy blood loss. Iron helps with the production of red blood cells and with tiredness. Have your levels checked before taking it long term.
Omega 3. The DHA in it passes to your baby through breastmilk, and contributes to the development of the brain and eyes.
Your rest
Protecting your rest works better when your body feels comfortable and you get enough in. That is why clothing and food sit together here. Both decide how often you have to get up.
Comfort and clothing
Comfort plays a bigger role in recovery than people often think. When your body feels good, tension in your muscles and nervous system drops. And in that relaxed state the body switches to healing more easily.
Pyjamas that button up, 2 to 3. Loose, soft clothing puts no pressure on belly, pelvis or stitches, and feeding is easier in them.
A soft robe, 1. Handy for the days when getting dressed is still too much.
Warm socks, 2 pairs. Hormonal swings can leave you shivery. Warmth helps your muscles relax.
An eye mask or blackout curtains. Daylight slows the production of melatonin. Dark makes a nap during the day a lot more effective.
Earplugs, 1 set. Fewer stimuli means settling faster, certainly when someone else has the baby for a while.
Lip balm, 1. You lose a lot of fluid and breathe through your mouth more often when you are tired. Small irritations cost energy without you noticing.
Food and drink
Your body is not only repairing itself, it is also building new tissue and refilling reserves. Food supplies the building blocks for that. Protein for cell repair, iron after the blood loss, vitamin C for making collagen and fibre for a soft stool.
It does not have to be perfect. Regular meals and enough nutrients already do a lot.
In the first weeks eating is usually not the problem. Having the energy to organise food is. So put this ready beforehand:
Frozen meals, 5 to 7. Enough for the first week, so nobody has to cook.
Easy snacks, a week's supply. Your body needs fuel regularly, at night as well.
Prune juice or dried prunes, 1 bottle or 1 bag. Fibre keeps the stool soft, which is pleasant with stitches.
A water bottle with a straw, 1. Drinking without having to sit up, handy while feeding.
Your surroundings
A well prepared home reduces stimuli and small interruptions. That keeps you at rest more often, and that is exactly what recovery needs. It comes down to two things: what is ready in the house, and what you arrange with others beforehand.
In the house
An extra set of bed linen, 1 to 2. Night sweats and leaking breasts are common. You change the bed quickly, without having to do a wash straight away.
A soft night light, 1. Bright light wakes your brain and makes falling asleep again harder. Soft light gives enough to feed and change by.
A recovery trolley or an empty drawer, 1. Water, snacks, maternity pads, wipes and chargers within reach. That way you do not have to keep getting up.
A toilet footstool, 1. Putting your feet up makes going to the toilet easier, so you have to push less.
Stain remover, 1 pack. Lochia comes out best in cold water.
Disinfectant cleaner, 1. Handy for the toilet, which gets a lot of use in the first weeks.
What you arrange beforehand
Not everything in a recovery kit is bought. Part of it you arrange, and that is often what makes the biggest difference in the postpartum week. Tick these off too:
Housework ahead. Laundry done, fridge stocked, a clean house around your due date.
Visitors. Talk through with your partner who comes, when, and for how long.
Your own triggers. Work out what unsettles you: a lot of visitors, a lot of information, or little sleep.
Accepting help. Agree who can bring food, do the shopping or walk the dog.
Why rest and a prepared home matter so much is explained in the invisible side of breastfeeding.
Frequently asked questions
How many maternity pads do I need?
Count on three packs of fifteen for the first week. You change about every three hours, so around eight a day in the first days. After that the bleeding eases and you need thinner pads.
How long does lochia last?
Usually four to six weeks. In the first five days the bleeding is heavy and bright red. After that it gets less and lighter in colour.
Maxi pants or maternity pads, which is better?
Neither. Maxi pants give the smallest chance of leaking through, maternity pads sit more comfortably for many women. You do not need both, it is personal preference.
When do I call the midwife?
With a temperature above 38 degrees, with clots bigger than an egg, if you soak through a pad within an hour, or with a wound that turns warm and throbs. In doubt? Calling is always fine.
Do you really need a postpartum recovery kit?
No, you do not have to. But preparing saves you a lot of getting up and searching in the first weeks. That is exactly the energy your body needs for recovery.
The fourth trimester is for you too
Recovery after birth is not about getting better faster. It is about creating the conditions in which recovery can happen by itself. Your body knows how to heal. It needs time, rest and support for that.
It is usually the small things that make the biggest difference. A quiet room, things within reach, enough to eat, and moments when you can really relax. It usually gets going by itself as soon as you give yourself permission to take it slowly.
Love,
Bobby
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Written by Bobby, maternity care assistant at Bobby Kraamzorg. Last updated: September 2026.
