Review: The Diva Cup Pre-Birth & Post-Birth Size 1 and Size 2

EVERYONE: This is a post for women. If you are interested or know a woman who is interested in going green for her menstrual needs, read on!

Otherwise, catch you tomorrow.

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I have been using the DivaCup for quite a while now.

Probably more than 6 years, coming up on 7 now?

I used it pre-birth and post-birth. The Model 1 is Pre, and Model 2 is Post.

Long story short:

I LOVE IT.

The details are as follows.

PROS & CONS

Excellent. No leaks at all, easy to insert & empty, and I used mine until I got pregnant. Literally. Then I bought the Model 2 and I stash one at the office, one in my purse and one at home so I am NEVER caught off guard.

PROS OF THE DIVA CUP

• No waste generated
• Not painful to insert once you get used to it
• Not at all difficult to insert either; once you get used to it (takes 3-5 tries)
• Saves money – you just buy it once at $30 and you can use it pretty much forever until you need the next model (if ever)
• Portable & easy to travel with (more portable than tampons or pads)
• Reusable, Eco-friendly & Green
• Nothing to toss away or hide after the fact, or even carry to the bathroom to do the dee (e.g. a purse holding all your accessories).

CONS OF THE DIVA CUP

• Rather expensive up front – $40!?
• Have to have clean fingers or be near a bathroom or some water source (more so than with tampons or pads but on the bright side, there’s nothing to toss)
• Takes a little finagling and practice; I do not recommend this product if you have long fingernails
• You cannot be shy down there. You have to have good finger grip / control to bend it and hold it bent with one hand for proper and easily insertion
• A little messy to empty when you’re in a public washroom or at work; takes a little practice and know-how
• Can sometimes overflow a little, which means you still need some sort of pantyliner.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MODEL 1 & MODEL 2

It doesn’t look any different but after giving birth your birth canal widens (even after a C-section) and you need to account for that.

I will say that I don’t know what happened post-birth but I do seem to leak a LITTLE bit even if the cup is not full with the Model 2.

I wear a pantyliner so this is not an issue, but with the Model 1 I had ZERO fears and wore white everything without an issue.

With Model 2, I noticed that it seems like I have to empty it at least twice to four times during the day at work at the start of my cycle, and then once a day was enough after the 3rd or 4th day; otherwise it overflows & leaks.

I also had to get the hang of using it again because I hadn’t done it in a while, and as it is with all things POST-BIRTH, it was painful to use the first few times until my body adjusted.

(This happens even with being intimate again after giving birth, so… I didn’t think this was strange.)

Anyway, do note that it is painful the first few times post-birth.

FAQ

How do you use it?

Best way I found is to hold it, fold it into a U shape and then insert it.

How do you empty it in a public location?

Make sure you empty OFTEN otherwise you will end up with a mess on your hands. If you know your flow well, know when to do it so you can minimize the ickiness factor.

Wash your hands first.

Go to the bathroom & lock the door well.

Have a wad of toilet paper ready in your left hand.

Then.. remove it and right after it comes out, immediately tip it over and empty the contents into the toilet bowl in between your legs.

Wait about 2 seconds, then with that wad of toilet paper, wipe off the edge/spouted area, and dump the tissue into the toilet.

Refold the cup and reinsert.

Then take more tissue paper and clean up as much as you can.

Dress.

Then use more tissue paper to open the toilet door, and wash your hands THOROUGHLY.

Does it ever get stuck?

Once or twice in the beginning, I panicked and I had pushed it in a little too far.

Yes, it was stuck and NO I COULD NOT GET IT OUT.

Instead of freaking out and going to the hospital immediately, I calmed down and Googled.

(When in doubt, keep calm and Google.)

They said to stay calm and to sit on the toilet and try to remove it that way.

Totally worked.

You need to basically bend your lower half so that it is positioned at an angle, and slides down a little more so that it will help it come out easily.

Then (this is a bit gross), but you need to squeeze your lower inner half (like Kegels) and try to help push it out while reaching in and grabbing the BASE of the cup (not the tip) and grabbing onto it firmly and tugging it out.

Do you need to trim the tip of the Diva Cup?

Not unless you find it uncomfortable. That is why it got stuck in the first place, I had pre-trimmed the tip on the advice of someone who had used it before and in all actuality, we are all made differently… so SHE found it too long & uncomfortable because it poked out, and for me, it was now TOO SHORT and that’s how it got stuck.

How do you clean / sanitize it?

While I am using it, I dump the contents into the toilet and then do a hot water rinse with soap  (fragrance-free soaps) daily.

After I am done using it, I pour boiling hot water on it to sterilize and let it dry out.

Basically, you do not have time to be sterilizing it each time you remove and insert it. Do it after using it & keep it in its pouch.

I would suggest doing this BEFORE because if you are caught unexpectedly and need something right away, you are not going to spend time boiling water and sanitizing it before using it.

So do it beforehand. Clean it well.

Does it smell?

Not any worse than how it normally smells with other methods (tampons or pads).

Is it messy and gross?

For me, it is not any more messy or gross than with tampons or pads.

Of course you can just take the pill and skip this period altogether like I used to do, but honestly, dumping its contents into the toilet felt cleaner and more sanitary than having to try and peel off this soaked pad or tampon and to deal with the dry *ahem* residue that may be left from either product.

I especially hated tampons for this reason; if you had to remove it after 8 hours and it was not fully soaked through, it was a bit painful sometimes depending on how large it was.

Any other questions?