Many thanks to our guest blogger – local mum Vicki Stevens – who has written us an honest review of our box of My Expert Midwife goodies. Read on to find out more!
Having a three week old baby I was asked to review the my expert midwife product range. It was lovely to feel spoilt at a time when everything else revolved around this new little person. When the products arrived they were presented in a lovely fabric bag which made it even more exciting. Inside the bag I found No Harm Nipple Balm, Spritz for Bits, Peri Prep Your Bits and Fantastic Skin Elastic. I think the names are really original but it did lead to an ‘interesting’ conversation with my sister-in-law who saw Spritz for Bits in the bathroom!
Recently giving birth meant unfortunately my bits certainly did need spritzing and a bit of TLC! The spray is a great idea and is very refreshing. It contains lavender, tea tree and witch hazel and is a great alternative to balancing in an awkward fashion to use water. I did find though that my bits were too sensitive and at times it was almost stingy. The bottle does say to expect a tingling sensation to show it’s working though and you can apply it to your pad instead. I actually found the best use for the spray was to spray on my swollen feet and ankles.
Any breastfeeding Mum will tell you that a lanolin based ointment is essential to get through those first few weeks when you and your baby are trying to get to know each other and get that milk supply going. I felt apprehensive about switching from the leading brand as quite frankly we hadn’t quite reached comfortable on our breastfeeding journey. I needn’t have worried No Harm Nipple Balm actually massively helped. It has a much softer consistency than it’s competitors which I assume is due to the coconut oil it contains. Unlike its rival it doesn’t need warming up first and, best of all, when I accidentally got it on my clothes it didn’t stain them. I was really impressed with No Harm Nipple Balm and would definitely recommend it to friends.
Fantastic Skin Elastic contains a combination of Vitamin E, grapefruit oil and argan oil. It does feel very oily in consistency and when it first arrived I was worried it would just sit on my skin and I’d be left more oily than a kipper. What I actually found was that it sinks into the skin really well and leaves it feeling really smooth. It smells lovely in a subtle way, whilst I was pregnant and just after I found a lot of smells overpowering but this was just right. Unfortunately it’s not got rid of my stretch marks but being fair I think that would take a miracle!
Peri Prep Your Bits is the only product I haven’t personally used. I wish I’d had it whilst I was pregnant so that I could have used it for perineal massage. I fully intended to do this but was put off by the concept of using vegetable oil as the web advised (I felt like the oil in the kitchen cupboard was winking at me when I went in for a snack!) The oil contains avocado, grapeseed and sweet almond oil and again smells lovely. I think having a dedicated product would have made me much more likely to do perineal massage and their website helpfully shows you how to do it.
Pregnancy and childbirth make some massive changes to your body and it seems My Expert Midwife have come up with some really useful products to as they put it,”help you feel like you again.” The products are slightly pricy but I would certainly recommend them to my friends.
To find out more about the My Expert Midwife range of products for pregnancy and the postnatal period, check out their website.
