5 Best Mom-Tested Postpartum Kits for Care and Recovery

What’s in the box?

The Frida Mom Labor and Delivery + Postpartum Recovery kit includes a delivery and nursing gown, a peri bottle, four pairs of disposable underwear, grippy socks, four instant ice maxi pads, 24 perineal cooling pad liners, perineal healing foam and a travel bag.

This is one of the best-equipped kits we’ve seen, and Frida doesn’t skimp on quality. This company first made their name in the US by offering simple but highly effective products that parents didn’t even know they’d need, and their postpartum recovery kits are no exception. I needed—and used—several essential items from the kit right away after delivery, including the instant ice packs (which don’t require a freezer, you just crack them and they get cold), and the perineal care items, which are well-stocked—there were 24 cooling pad liners (I used two or three per day), and the foam lasted me well over two weeks, with regular application several times a day. These products are designed to be layered and worn for the days immediately after giving birth: you put a cooling ice pack inside the disposable underwear, place a cooling pad on top, then a layer of the foam. Together, these ingredients provide immediate cooling and a lot of relief to the skin.

But my favorite piece in this kit is the cozy cotton gown. I wore it in the recovery room after giving birth, and am still wearing it to bed almost two months later. It’s lightweight, soft, and stretchy, with perfectly placed snaps for easy breastfeeding or pumping access. The disposable underwear in this kit is also snug-fitting, and doesn’t make you feel like you’re wearing a diaper, which is a small but important victory in your early postpartum days. All-in-all, this is a set focused on comfort, right down to the included grippy socks. I would have liked it to include some regular absorbent pads, but those can be purchased separately easily enough.

Number of items included: 8 | Organic products: No

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What’s in the box?

The Momcozy Postpartum Recovery Essentials Kit includes six pairs of disposable underwear, a peri bottle, witch hazel cooling foam, 20 disposable nursing pads, two reusable cold pads with disposable covers and a canvas tote.

This is a more limited box that puts a greater focus on reusability than the others I tested. Instead of disposable pads and ice packs, this kit includes two gel packs that can be cooled in the freezer, and used as many times as you need with a disposable cover (20 covers are included). The cold pads are also slim and very comfortable to wear—much less bulky than the snap-to-activate pads from the hospital and the Frida kit—and high quality enough that I felt like you could even hang on to them for future pregnancies. (This was also true of the peri bottle, which I thought was notably robust and effective.)

The Momcozy kit also has an important item that most postpartum kits lack: disposable nipple pads. Many breastfeeding people will find these helpful, though I didn’t end up needing all of the pads in the kit (I stopped using them once my milk supply evened out after a couple of weeks). And while there aren't quite as many total items as some other kits, it does include more pairs of disposable underwear than any other kit we tested, and the canvas tote is a nice inclusion (unless, like me, your house already feels full of canvas totes).

Number of items included: 6 | Organic products: No

What’s in the box?

The Purcomfy Postpartum Essentials Recovery Kit includes a peri bottle, five pairs of disposable underwear, five disposable pads, five instant ice pads, 24 witch hazel perineal liners and perineal soothing foam.

Although this kit has an MSRP of $60, it seems to be perennially on sale. In the three years we've been testing postpartum kits, we've never seen it for over $30. And at that price, it's easily the least expensive option on our list. And what you get for the price is a great, well-rounded kit that includes items you'll need immediately after giving birth. The cooling pad liners and foam provide relief in the early days postpartum, and the snug boyshort-style underwear is less bulky than what you’ll get at the hospital. The underwear is comfortable while still providing a nice amount of compression—much better than wearing diapers.

That said, the instant ice pads in this kit are quite large, as are the disposable pads, so if you wear the whole stack, it’s not the most comfortable. But if you're bleeding heavily, the sacrifice in comfort for those heavy-duty pads might be worth it. There are only five of them included in the set though, so you're going to need more either way.

Number of items included: 6 | Organic products: No |

What’s in the box?

The Earth Mama Organics Postpartum Recovery Collection includes herbal perineal spray, herbal sitz bath, organic perineal balm, organic periodic tea, organic nipple butter, organic milkmaid tea and a pair of booby tubes, which can be warmed to stimulate milk supply

The postpartum journey doesn’t just happen below the waist; breastfeeding can throw new parents for a loop, but products that can help smooth this transition aren’t always included in postpartum kits. And if you or someone you know is planning to breastfeed, the Earth Mama Organics Postpartum Collection is a great way to set them up for success. It includes not one but two kinds of tea: One is designed to help ease common postpartum symptoms, and the other to help stimulate lactation. And our tester loved the included nipple cream—she says, “I breastfeed, so the nipple cream is a must, and I love the teas,” she said. “Every product has been helping my postpartum recovery go smoothly!”

Keep in mind though that while this kit is great for breastfeeding supplies and includes some products for perineal soothing, you will still need your typical postpartum items like pads and ice packs.

Number of items included: 7 | Organic products: Yes

What’s in the box?

The Mother Mother Postpartum Recovery Bundle includes five pairs of disposable mesh underwear, a peri bottle, 12 overnight pads and an organic herbal sitz bath.

This kit puts beautifully packaged, high-quality items into a reusable zippered canvas bag, making it a great choice for gifting. And it's not just nice-loking—it’s also well-provisioned, offering more pads and pairs of underwear than other kits we tested.

The included sitz bath is an especially nice touch in this regard—it can be used in a peri bottle, bathtub or as a facial steam, in a way that our product tester Karina found “so relaxing.” She says, “It gave off spa vibes to help me relax, which was exactly what I needed postpartum.” And recovery is hard work; if a product can help you unwind, we say you deserve it.

Number of items included: 8 | Organic products: No