Off-grid Feminine Hygiene and Childbirth - Not just for the ladies

[Convallaria majalis]

Menstrual cups and cloth pads have gone mainstream, but they're also a great choice for when SHTF. Even if you're just trying to be self-sufficient, these are easy swaps you can use again and again. I have started learning how to sew so I can eventually make my own pads and flannels. The tech behind menstrual underwear has gotten better too, so they are worth investing in.

The Top 8 Feminine Hygiene Products to Squirrel Away for SHTF (Tactical.com)

I’ve also been interested in how families handle childbirth when living off-grid. From what I gather, the more common route is to have a midwife-attended home birth, where the midwife brings in most of the sterile equipment and medications you’d expect in a birth center. There are so many freebirth disasters I can't imagine many choose that if they can help it, and this seems like the most sensible approach for a low-risk pregnancy. My hope and prayer is there will at least be a few medics wandering around the wasteland. Have you or your wife/girlfriend given birth in an off-grid situation?

What stood out to me was how much prep you'd need to do around hygiene (clean water, sterilized sheets/towels, and basic supplies for postpartum recovery). Some people also lean on DIY/self-sufficient hygiene methods (cloth pads, herbal sitz baths, homemade salves, etc.) to cut down on disposables.

• What to Pack in Your Home Birth Kit (Babylist)
• The Guide to Prepping for Pregnancy (Backdoor Survival)
• The Ultimate Home Birth Supply List (Midwife360)
• Checklist: Home Birth Supplies (Ontario Midwives)
• Homemade Natural Postpartum Care Kit (Passionate Homemaking)
• How to Make Padsicles (The Bump)
• Natural Labor & Birth Kit (Wellness Mama)
• DIY Home Birth Kit Checklist (Modern Alternative Mama)

If you have any thoughts or experience with off-grid periods, pregnancy and childbirth, please sounds off below.

 

[Ultrapenguin]

Here's a fun supplementary thread from a while back about the topic of nonstandard childbirth.

🤝 Community Thread 'Trendy Pregnancy / Snowflake Mommas and Their Batshit Birthing Practices'

Apr 10, 2022

In a bid to win the Most Speshul Momma Award, women across the world are scrambling to garner as much attention as possible for their big moment—childbirth. But what is a woman to do when everyone else is having their babies at the boring old hospital? She has to up her game, of course. As essential as oils, asspats are a snowflake mom’s lifesource and she’s eating for two now. It has to be something unique. Something cutting-edge.

Something like…

Au Naturale Birth​

Who needs health monitoring when you can shit your baby out like it’s just another Tuesday? This section...

• Snusmumriken
• Replies: 340
• Forum: Beauty Parlour

Reactions: x 97 x 41 x 37 x 4 x 6 x 3 x 2 x 25 x 2 x 1

I read it years ago and still remain unsettled by it to this day.
Some people obviously don't understand how fatal childbirth could be throughout most of history, over 1 in 20 women died during while giving birth, and that's not even taking into account other complications; we've made many advances in medicine, and unless someone genuinely can't get to either a hospital or birthing center, then choosing to give birth in a kiddie pool with a doula whose highest level of medical training is a liberal arts degree sitting off to the side doing some middle eastern chants and telling you to relax is an insane choice.

 

[Althalus]

I am not a medical expert or a woman, so feel free to ignore. But I recall reading that the popular sitting birth position came about because one of the French Kings named Louis (there were 16, don't know which one) was a weirdo who wanted to watch women give birth and the sitting position was easier for observers to see despite being harder for the woman.

Supposedly birthing while standing, or on all-fours is easier and less prone to complications. Supposedly there is historical precedent for this in different cultures. But as I said, I am not a doctor and don't know anything besides a few historical anecdotes.

 

[147573952589676412927]

Here's a fun supplementary thread from a while back about the topic of nonstandard childbirth.

🤝 Community Thread 'Trendy Pregnancy / Snowflake Mommas and Their Batshit Birthing Practices'

Apr 10, 2022

In a bid to win the Most Speshul Momma Award, women across the world are scrambling to garner as much attention as possible for their big moment—childbirth. But what is a woman to do when everyone else is having their babies at the boring old hospital? She has to up her game, of course. As essential as oils, asspats are a snowflake mom’s lifesource and she’s eating for two now. It has to be something unique. Something cutting-edge.

Something like…

Au Naturale Birth​

Who needs health monitoring when you can shit your baby out like it’s just another Tuesday? This section...

• Snusmumriken
• Replies: 340
• Forum: Beauty Parlour

Reactions: x 97 x 41 x 37 x 4 x 6 x 3 x 2 x 25 x 2 x 1

I read it years ago and still remain unsettled by it to this day.
Some people obviously don't understand how fatal childbirth could be throughout most of history, over 1 in 20 women died during while giving birth, and that's not even taking into account other complications; we've made many advances in medicine, and unless someone genuinely can't get to either a hospital or birthing center, then choosing to give birth in a kiddie pool with a doula whose highest level of medical training is a liberal arts degree sitting off to the side doing some middle eastern chants and telling you to relax is an insane choice.

I generally believe that both options carry their own risks. Medical intervention is nice, but often over-zealous, and can lead to it's own complications. That being said, medical intervention does prevent deaths. At the same time, I believe women have the right to live a natural life if they choose, you can't force them to go to a doctor to give birth if they don't want to - making it a legal requirement or some shit like people yell for would be immoral and a violation of agency and a severing of our right to live as the animals we are if we so choose to.

 

[Foxymophandlemama]

Menstrual cups and cloth pads have gone mainstream, but they're also a great choice for when SHTF.

Those things are total lifechangers. Different brands have slightly different shapes and sizes for menstrual cups, so it might take a little trial and error to find your perfect fit, but once you do, it’s a game changer. Some people replace theirs every 2–3 years, while certain brands claim they can last up to 10 years. The lifespan really depends on the quality of the material and how well you take care of it.

Another key thing is learning how to clean and store it properly. Good hygiene makes all the difference, you’ll avoid irritation or infections and keep your cup lasting longer. Just a quick rinse during your cycle and a deeper clean between cycles usually does the trick. Some brands sell cups and special soaps for that.

 

[YHWH's Strongest Soldier]

At the same time, I believe women have the right to live a natural life if they choose, you can't force them to go to a doctor to give birth if they don't want to - making it a legal requirement or some shit like people yell for would be immoral and a violation of agency and a severing of our right to live as the animals we are if we so choose to.

At home/natural births may pose a significant and unnecessary risk to the child. Asphyxiating your newborn in the bathtub or strangling them with their own umbilical cord is not a human right and should not be tolerated.

 

[Blue Flying Leaf]

There is no "hygiene" off grid.
Buying products from stores means you are still "on grid".

Only viable things are cotton clothes and diapers/pads/fabric that you can boil to disinfect. Everything else is a pipe dream.
You probably couldn't even make soap in realistic SHTF scenario.

 

[MrTroll]

I've done a fair bit of research on off-grid childbirth, and from what I've gathered, the most common practice is to have the mother give birth at the top of a steep hill, and then if the baby is smart and tough enough to survive the tumble down to the bottom, it gets to live.

 

[Mrs. Sai Moon]

just use a pinecone ladies

 

[DumbDude43]

I’ve also been interested in how families handle childbirth when living off-grid. From what I gather, the more common route is to have a midwife-attended home birth, where the midwife brings in most of the sterile equipment and medications you’d expect in a birth center. There are so many freebirth disasters I can't imagine many choose that if they can help it, and this seems like the most sensible approach for a low-risk pregnancy. My hope and prayer is there will at least be a few medics wandering around the wasteland.

i wouldn't count on having random medics and midwifes walk around a post collapse landscape lol

your best bet in such a situation is probably relying on female relatives who have gone through childbirth themselves to lend you a helping hand, that's how people did it for thousands of years before widespread access to professional medical facilities was a thing.

 

[YautjaWeeb]

Menstrual cups and cloth pads have gone mainstream

When it comes some will fear for their gold coins, valuables, heirlooms, medicines, food, even potable water; but what I fear for myself most now are my Keurig reusable k-cups. I just found a new one I really like too.

 

[Car Won't Crank]

I think you need to ask our resident grugs. @Grug and @gruggmanny your expertise are needed.

 

[powdered toast]

There is no "hygiene" off grid.
Buying products from stores means you are still "on grid".

Only viable things are cotton clothes and diapers/pads/fabric that you can boil to disinfect. Everything else is a pipe dream.
You probably couldn't even make soap in realistic SHTF scenario.

If you have any fat/oil, you can make soap. Potassium hydroxide solution is made by steeping wood ash in water. It won't be bar soap, but it will still saponify fat and be a liquid soap.

 

[Blue Flying Leaf]

If you have any fat/oil, you can make soap. Potassium hydroxide solution is made by steeping wood ash in water. It won't be bar soap, but it will still saponify fat and be a liquid soap.

If you have fat oil you'll eat it. Food is more important than soap.
And you can also "wash" your hands with wood ash. Not the pretties and cleanest but it works.

 

[The Mighty Banth]

I am not a medical expert or a woman, so feel free to ignore. But I recall reading that the popular sitting birth position came about because one of the French Kings named Louis (there were 16, don't know which one) was a weirdo who wanted to watch women give birth and the sitting position was easier for observers to see despite being harder for the woman.

Supposedly birthing while standing, or on all-fours is easier and less prone to complications. Supposedly there is historical precedent for this in different cultures. But as I said, I am not a doctor and don't know anything besides a few historical anecdotes.

Birthing stools or chairs used to be common and were used for millennia in cultures all over the world, even being mentioned in the Old Testament. Upon cursory research, they even make modern versions.

The lying on your back was probably preferred by doctors for easy access, but other positions and tools to aid them are growing in popularity in hospitals. When I was doing research for my own birth I saw a lot of literature encouraging woman to talk to their doctor about trying the options to see if they helped.

 

[mold]

https://www.amazon.com/Emergency-Childbirth-Manual-Gregory-White/dp/0931560098

all your questions can be answered herein

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