Nobody warns you that sitting down is the hard part
Stitches, tearing, swelling — all of it lands exactly where a flat chair presses hardest. Perch takes that spot out of the equation so you can sit through a feed without shifting every two minutes.
- A full cutout — no pressure on stitches or swelling
- Firm enough not to bottom out halfway through a feed
- Machine-washable cover, because of course
- Fits a nursing chair, dining chair or car seat
- Plain charcoal — it doesn't look like a hospital item
Everything tender is in the same small area
At the base of your spine is the coccyx. It has almost no muscle or fat over it, and it was never built to carry weight. On a flat chair it does exactly that — your pelvis rolls back, and everything above it presses down through the tailbone and the soft tissue either side of it.
Stitches, tearing and swelling all sit within a few centimetres of the tailbone — and a flat seat drives your entire bodyweight through that exact spot. It isn't the chair being hard. It's where the load lands.
FloatCore™ doesn't cushion that spot. It removes it. The cutout means there is nothing underneath your tailbone at all, so the pressure never arrives, and your weight transfers out onto the sit bones — the two thick load-bearing bones your body actually sits on.
Sit through a whole meal again
A full cutout, not extra padding — the sore spot touches nothing, so there's no pressure to put up with.
Do the drive in one go
Your weight spreads sideways onto the sit bones, which are built to carry it, instead of onto the one place that can't.
Get up without bracing for it
The raised back edge tilts your pelvis forward a few degrees, so you stop rounding your lower back to stay upright.
The first weeks back in an ordinary chair
Standing is fine. Lying down is fine. Sitting is the one nobody prepares you for — and it comes up thirty times a day.
Stitches and tearing
Whether it was a tear, an episiotomy or just everything being tender, the cutout means the area carries no weight while you sit on it.
Long feeds
Forty minutes in the same position is a long time on a sore spot. Firm foam that doesn't sink is the difference between settling in and shifting the whole way through.
After a caesarean
The raised back edge stops you rounding your lower back to get up and down, which is usually what pulls on the scar.
The drive home and after
The car seat is the first hard surface you meet on the way out of hospital, and the one you're stuck in the longest.
The donut ring works. It just announces itself.
An inflatable ring does take the pressure off — and everyone in the room knows why you're sitting on it. A flat foam pad doesn't lift the tailbone at all, and a folded towel flattens in twenty minutes. Perch is a plain charcoal seat cushion that nobody comments on.
| Perch | Donut ring | Flat foam pad | Folded towel | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tailbone touches nothing | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ |
| Doesn't look medical | ✓ | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ |
| Supports the lower back too | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ |
| Still the same shape next year | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ |
| Won't slide off the chair | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ |
| Cover comes off and washes | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ |
“I stopped dreading sitting down to feed her”
Ordered it for the first fortnight after my second baby and honestly I still use it at my desk. Nobody who comes over has ever asked what it's for, which I appreciate more than I expected to.
Second-degree tear. Week one I was feeding standing up leaning on the cot. This got me into the actual chair. I wish someone had put it on the hospital bag list.
Bought it for my sister after her c-section and ended up ordering a second one for myself. The getting-up part is what it really helped with, which I wasn't expecting.
The cover comes off and goes in the machine
It matters more in this category than most. The charcoal stretch-knit cover unzips completely and washes cold; the foam core underneath stays put. The base is a grippy non-slip rubber, so it doesn't wander off a dining chair or slide around a car seat when you corner.
The foam is high-density and firm on purpose. Soft is the whole problem — you sink through it and land on the tailbone anyway.
Most people buy it for the chair they use at 3am
One lives on the nursing chair, one goes in the car. It also turns out to be the baby-shower gift nobody else thinks to buy.
Make sitting easier →
The questions we get most
How soon after birth can I use it?
Most people start using one as soon as they're home, and plenty take one into hospital. It's a cushion, not a treatment — if you had a complication or you're unsure, ask your midwife or doctor first.
Is it better than a donut ring?
A ring does take the pressure off, but it's obvious, it rolls around, and it doesn't support your lower back — which is already doing a lot after birth. Perch does both and looks like an ordinary seat cushion.
Will it fit my chair?
17.3" wide × 16.5" deep. It fits most dining chairs, office chairs, car seats and wheelchairs. On a narrow bucket seat the wings sit up slightly, which most people find holds them more securely rather than less.
Is it firm or soft?
Firm, deliberately. Soft foam lets you sink until the tailbone lands anyway.
Does it look obviously medical?
No — plain charcoal, the sort of thing that lives on a desk chair without comment. That's the main reason people pick it over a donut ring.
What if it doesn't work for me?
Send it back within 60 nights and we refund you. You don't need to box it up neatly or explain yourself.
60 nights to decide
Use it at the desk, in the car, at the dinner table. If sitting isn't easier, tell us and we'll refund you. A cushion you don't want to sit on isn't worth keeping.
Perch is a seat cushion. It is not a medical device and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any condition. If sitting is painful, or symptoms are new, persistent or worsening, speak to your doctor — particularly after surgery, an injury or childbirth.