After 36 long hours of contractions following an induction, I went through a rough vaginal birth to deliver my beautiful baby girl. It involved a lot of pushing, a vacuum, and a fairly intense episiotomy. Needless to say, my postpartum recovery was just as uncomfortable and painful as you’d think.
Lying in a hospital bed the next morning, barely able to move and exhausted, I blearily listened to my doctor explain the best way to move along the healing process. He recommended the things I had already heard and then added one I hadn’t: taking a sitz bath about once a day.
A few days later, when I was home, more coherent, and desperate for something that would soothe the round-the-clock pain I was feeling, I looked up what exactly a sitz bath is (the name comes from the German word “sitzen,” which means “to sit”). In short, it’s a warm, shallow bath you sit in for about 10–15 minutes that cleans your perineal area, increasing blood flow to the area to speed the healing process. It’s easy to use: You place it over the toilet, fill it with warm water, and throw in some epsom salts (which can help reduce swelling). Then you sit in it and let it work its magic. Not only are sitz baths known to help with pain, but they can also help relieve itching, which is something I was struggling with because of my stitches.
I found one on Amazon that had a good rating and was less than $30 and quickly ordered it, along with a bag of unscented epsom salts. As hesitant as I was about sitting in water when I was still bleeding, I quickly got over it. The warm bath immediately relieved the aching, stinging feeling I had been experiencing in a way that nothing else really had.
I had been taking Motrin and Tylenol as prescribed, using creams from the hospital, and wearing cold pads whenever possible, and while all of these things helped, none were quite as soothing as the sitz bath. It was a nice alternative to a regular bath, which I had been instructed not to take because of my stitches. A sitz bath offers more targeted therapy than a regular bath because only one part of your body is soaking in the water, and you use the sitz bath for a shorter period of time.
And it wasn’t just the physical relief—it was also one of the first times in nearly a week I actually had a few moments to myself. My husband was taking care of the baby on the other side of the house so that I didn’t hear her crying and (attempt to) come running; no relatives were around asking me endless questions. It was just me, in a quiet bathroom, and it was unexpectedly so nice.
From then on, I started using the sitz bath as often as possible, about once a day, usually before bed, or sometimes when I woke up and felt like I could barely get out of bed. Since this was my first baby and I have nothing to compare the experience to, I don’t know if it actually sped up my healing, but it certainly did alleviate the pain for both during and for at least an hour or two afterwards, which was something I really needed. It was easily the most immediately effective thing I did during my recovery process, which took about eight weeks, and honestly, it was nice to have even a few minutes to myself. Needless to say, the next time I have a baby, I know that little plastic bath will be waiting for me the moment I get home from the hospital.
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