Doulas almost always have the handy-dandy rice sock available for laboring mommas. Rice socks are also useful for postpartum and any other time heat or cold might help with pain or injury. Rice socks can be scented using essential oils. They are easily made.
Basic ingredients:
- One pair long tube socks
- Plain, uncooked rice (different types of rice smell differently when heated)
- Funnel, if preferred
- Thread and needle, if preferred
- Essential oil, of preferred (lavender, vanilla, etc.)
To make a rice sock, take one sock, and pour the uncooked rice into the sock, filling it about 3/4 of the way. Use of a funnel can make this process easier. If you want to add an essential oil, you can add a few drops to the rice before closing the sock up. Tie (or sew, if you are handy with a needle and thread) the sock tightly closed. Use the remaining sock as a washable cover- roll it onto the filled sock and when it gets dirty, take it off and wash, then place back on the rice sock. Do not wash the sock with the rice in it! If you are good at sewing, you can also make a soft cover out of pretty fabric.
A rice sock can be kept in the freezer, ready to use as a cold pack. More often, they are heated for 2-4 minutes in a microwave and then used as a heat pack. You can make them different sizes. Long men's tube socks work great to mold around a laboring mother's belly or across her back and hips. A shorter sock can be used to across the neck and shoulders for tension relief.
