An herbal sitz bath is one of the most wonderful and healing things you can do for yourself to help you heal after giving birth. It is important to have a good herbal sitz bath recipe.
A sitz bath is basically a small bath that you sit in to relieve the stretched, swollen muscles and tissues around the vagina after giving birth.
Sitz baths will also help heal perineal tears. You can use a small sink or plastic tub placed in the tub that you squat in, or you can buy an inexpensive and much more comfortable sink that fits directly on the toilet seat.
There are different herbal recipes for sitz baths available packaged. Our favorite is the Sari recipe, available from Dandelion Botanical Company in Seattle. This recipe was created by Sari Gallegos, the midwife who supported us during the birth of our son, Rowan. You can buy one of these prepackaged varieties at a herbal store, probably through your local midwife, or check out the sitz bath recipes in the right column.
You can also make your own sitz bath recipe:
The herbs in the Sari recipe mix are:
– 2 oz. rosemary and uvaursi,
– 1 ounce. each of chamomile, chickweed, marshmallow root, banana, lavender flowers and calendula,
– and then 2 oz. of sea salt.
In the year of childbearing, Susun Weed recommends the use of herbs such as yarrow, rosemary, goldenseal, oak bark, witch hazel, grill bark, and myrrh specifically to heal perineal tears.
She cautions that if you have stitches, you should limit yourself to one bath a day.
When I look at this list of herbs, I see some that feel a bit astringent and powerful in their healing abilities. These are herbs like yarrow, rosemary, and goldenseal, and then there are soothing and refreshing herbs like chamomile, chickweed, marshmallow root, banana, and calendula.
The soothing quality of the sitz bath is what I remember most: the relief and sensation of gentle herbal healing.
Prepare your sitz bath
To prepare your bath …
– To boil water over four ounces of your herbal sitz bath mix.
– Let it sit and rest for at least four hours.
– Strain into a bowl or directly into your basin and then sit with your vaginal area in the tea for about 15 minutes.
Not only do herbs heal, but this little time for yourself can also be appreciated.
– Repeat several times a day if you don’t have stitches and enjoy the powerful healing of a simple herbal sitz bath!