Vanny's Telling Everything.: Rules of Chinese Confinement

I think almost everyone knows that after a woman delivers a baby, she has to go through a period of confinement to nurture her body back to its pre-natal state. But how does one do that? And whether one sticks to the hard rules? Its a highly debatable topic i guess, so just to share abit of my experience on & knowledge on Chinese confinement in this short blog post.

P.S. Just a short disclaimer that what I blog is of my knowledge from reading or shared by others. Will not write detailed explanations nor state technicalities as I am no pro in this topic not certified.

Rules of Chinese Confinement

Chinese confinement lasts 28 days where first two days in the hospital after delivery will not be considered. So what are the common practices in Chinese confinement and what I practiced?

1. No drinking of plain water; drink lots of red date tea.
From what I know, red dates promotes blood circulation so drinking red dates tea is supposed to help nourish and replenish the blood (or replenish "Qi"). It's not that new mummies are totally forbidden plain water, but it's more like drinking too much of it is said to cause water retention. I personally drank all the red date tea my nanny brews for me, and took tiny sips of plain water when ever I needed to. So far so good, didn't experience water retention or sort.

Pre-packed ingredients for brewing red date tea; from PEM agency.

2. No cold food and drinks, or cooling foods.
I would have to agree with this one, and I've stuck to it since day one. All food and drinks I took had to be at least lukewarm. I mean, even a sick person shouldn't be drinking or eating cold, icy stuff so why should you (who just delivered a baby) be doing that (okay lah I sound abit harsh here but Im the type who likes to take care of health)? Ladies with their periods would often try to limit cold/cooling foods/drinks so I guess it's the same for birthing? Okay to be fair, I've read some online comments that it's okay to drink cold drinks when one is doing confinement, am not sure how true that is but I personally just avoided because it's not something too difficult to adhere to anyway.

3. No bathing and washing of hair.

This one is pretty straight forward. It is said that bathing or washing of hair during confinement would allow winds to enter one's body, and may cause rheumatism and headaches (头风) in future. This rule was passed down from the olden days as back then one may either not have heating facilities to bathe in, or would have to bathe in a river far away from home thus catching a cold easily. These days with the convenience of warm shower, it shouldn't be a problem if you take a quick one and dry yourself right after that. If you were to engage a confinement nanny (like I did), she would usually prepare warm boiled herbal water using some special ingredients (which can be purchased from Chinese medical hall) for you to bathe in. I've bathed in that daily since the second day I was back home. As for hair washing, my nanny still believed in not washing frequently but she allowed me to wash my hair on the 15th, 22nd, and 28th day of confinement using boiled lemongrass and ginger water. Yes my head did smell after a week, but it was bearable since I tied my hair up all the time so I could keep oily hair off my face. I followed the rule because I hated headaches (who doesn't?) and didn't wanna feel sucky in case I (*touchwood*) get headaches in future just bcuz I washed my hair during confinement. I didn't wanna try my luck on this one...

Herbal bath bags bought from Chinese medical hall.

4. No watching of TV/computer/phone(etc) for long hours and no crying.
I really didn't know I was not supposed to be doing this then one day my nanny came into my room and told me off because I was watching TV; that got me stunned a little. I was not mad lah 'cuz I knew she only cared thus the nagging. Then I went to google about it and read that our eyes are somehow related to our livers. After birth since mummies suffer great loss of blood, the nourishment to the liver is depleted, and (since its linked) indirectly the eyes too. This was one rule that I broke throughout.. I mean, how could I have managed to lie in bed for 28 days without entertainment at all? Don't think anyone could. At some point I did feel my eyes strained from staring at my iPad or iPhone for too long and then I'd remind myself to take a break. I'd either rest my eyes by giving them some shut eye time, or do some stretching or walk around the house and do some light chores like folding of baby's clothes etc. Truth to be told, I cried almost everyday for the first week. Just bcuz I felt especially emotional in the initial days post delivery. I checked with my friends who delivered before I did, and they shared that it's normal for mummies to feel this way since hormones are regulating after birth. I even cried just bcuz I thought my baby looked so cute while I breastfed her. Sweet or lol?

5. No wearing of clothes that reveal too much skin; should be wearing long pants, shirt, and socks to cover up.
Haha... I didn't know about this rule as well (okay, I really didn't read up about confinement prior to the real deal lah). The first day when I came home from the hospital, I changed into a spag strapped camisole and shorts as I had to eat in the hall and the weather was really warm that afternoon. Shortly after lunch I nursed baby in my room with only the fan on, sweating away, my nanny arrived and greeted me in my room. She saw me and scolded me right away, asking me to put on at least a t-shirt and long pants as well as socks to cover myself up. I ended up getting my hubby to buy x2 pairs of cooling cotton slacks from Uniqlo; cheap and comfy! (link of pants: http://www.uniqlo.com/sg/store/women-drape-pants-1623900006.html) So I wore loose t-shirt, long pants, and socks throughout my 28-day confinement. Covering up was just a way to not let the body chill or get cold. A mummy friend did tell me wearing socks is important as wind enters the body through the feet. Hmm...?? Just follow lah. : P

Bought a pair of capri length, wore it with long socks. Damn comfy!!

Bought another one in ankle-length, comfy and versatile for home or dressed up for lazy shopping days. ; )

6. No air-con or fan, especially blown directly.
My MIL told me that only fan is allowed and not to have the wind blow directly at me so thats what I did. But LUCKY for me (continuing my story from above), after my nanny scolded me about my attire she told me to on the aircon at low fan and high temperature (e.g. 26 degree, low fan). She was my savior! Hurhurhur... So I basically slept, nursed, ate, rest, and did every other thing in my room everyday. I tell you, the first 2 weeks my body literally sweat buckets and because I sweat so much I started to have body odor (fought the stinky smell with deo!!). *faint* ( -_-") *faint* Felt so warm all the time and I think partly it was due to all the herbs and ginger in the confinement food as well as hot soup and red date tea.. Cannot tahan. ='/

7. No going out of the house.
This I agree as well since I'd be recuperating during this period, I should be resting at home. The rational is that new mummies lose a great deal of blood and plunge into a fatigue state after labor so lots of rest is required. Catching a cold is just another possible reason new mummies may encounter if heading out during this period especially during rainy days. Thought of going downstairs for facial but permission was not granted by my nanny. So yea, was a good girl/good mummy this whole time and stayed home to rest.

8. No tedious chores or exercise; mummies should lie down to rest often.
Got nagged by my nanny and MIL several times bcuz of this. First few days home I was walking around trying to unpack all the bags of freebies given by TMC, POSB, gar-ment (government, for SG50 Jubilee baby pack), and some others. Then got nagged by both of them to stop and rest. Then as the days passed, I stood around the house sometimes and kena nagged again asking me to sit down. Some days my nanny would catch me sitting at my computer desk and she would nag again asking me to lie down if not I'll get backache sitting too long at the desk. Overall this one month was quite a relaxing one since my nanny cooked and did all the chores. All I had to do was to nurse my baby and take care of my body. I've also started with some breathing exercises and progressively incorporated some light Pilates moves.

Sometime before I delivered I posted an article on FB about mummies having split ab muscles after birth (link: http://www.befitmom.com/diastasis_recti.php). I thought it was scary and not sure how true it was. I tested on myself (instruction how to self-test in the article) after delivery and true enough, mine split up as well. It felt quite gross to feel my ab muscles separated and soft in the middle (felt soft like fats). Thats why I started with breathing exercises (recommended for mummies with split ab muscles) to slowly gain back strength in my core and repair my ab muscles before resuming regular exercises. Few weeks into my confinement, I checked the gap again and it was better already! Initially it felt like a 5cm gap (first few days after delivery), to 1-2cm gap (by 3rd week of confinement). Happy to feel the progressive recovery. Jiayou jiayou jiayou!! : D

P.S. Will write another blog post on my post natal massage.. Stay tuned. ; )

"Split" abdominal muscles.
(Picture taken from web: www.burrelleducation.com)

9. No dieting; mummies should eat more if possible.
I didn't really think of dieting to begin with since I knew I should be eating well in terms of nutrition to recover quickly. But my nanny literally stuffed me with food, and asked me to finish all of it slowly. I was eating 3 meals a day with a light breakfast and 2 other meals prepared by my nanny. A typical meal she prepared would consist of 3 spoons of rice (I've never liked rice but I just ate a little for the sake of it), one vegetable dish, one poultry dish, one fish dish, and most times with a bowl of soup. Alot right?? And her portion is like a standard family sized portion for three but in this case was all for me!! Even had to drink herbal soups at night after dinner. But to my surprise, I actually could finish all of it!! This period has literally been the most i've eaten in my life...... But I stuck to it since I've read that breast feeding mothers need to keep a minimum calorie count of approx. 1800 per day to sustain a good supply of milk (basically just add another 300-500 calories on top of your usual. link: http://kellymom.com/nutrition/mothers-diet/mom-calories-fluids/). So far my supply seem adequate, happy baby = happy mummy. : )

One of my dinners.. Yummy but big portions! What you see is only 2/3 of my entire meal!
(pardon the bad picture, where I sat for dinner was a very dim spot)

One of my lunches... Told my nanny to start making smaller portioned meals towards the end of confinement, couldn't eat so much for such a long period.

10. Eating; dishes should have more ginger/wine/sesame oil in them. Herbal soups are a must too.
This was wayyyyyyy too easy for me since I love ginger, garlic, and basically eat everything and anything. Herbal soups were brewed for me to drink every night after dinner. I did enjoy my confinement meals, though some days the soup tasted weird. Ginger is great in ridding wind, sesame oil contains vit E (anti-oxidants) to lower cholesterol level, erm, wine im not sure but if you do take alcohol and are breastfeeding do note to nurse baby only 2 hours after consumption as the alcohol passes through milk from mummy to baby. If you're wondering about types of confinement food nannies prepares, mostly the dishes repeat since the ingredients are bought in larger volumes to cook over several days. E.g. you could be eating salmon for almost a week but cooked in different styles and mixed with other dishes per meal. My fav was Vinegar Pork Trotters! *Slurps** = P

The legendary Vinegar Pork Trotters.. a must-have dish for all confinement mummies!! : P

I opted in for a herbal package with PEM agency so my nanny brought packets of pre-packed herbs and she would make soups for me according to the day sequence. You can see on the top left - the number representing the day and the wordings represent the benefits of the soup. Easy and all well-planned out.

11. No eating of fruits.
Weeks before i delivered, a friend who was doing her confinement shared with me that fruits are not allowed during confinement. I was taken aback since fruits are nutritious I didn't see why they are forbidden. And since I had a habit to have fruits on a daily basis, I couldn't see myself not eating any for a month!! Madness.. Apparently you are allowed to consume fruits, but not the "cooling" fruits. I had mostly apples, kiwis, and sometimes bananas. Had my fruit fix everyday.

My breakfast one time... Nanny didn't allow me bananas so I sneaked them into the room. Hurhur. Paired with some nutritional oat-y drink. Breakfast for me is usually light 'cuz lunch & dinner were always very heavy.

12. No Sex.
Like Duh... seriously..? Would you even wanna try and tear your V-jayjay's stitches (actual term of that snip: Perineum) so soon?? I don't know what's the myth to this one, but I'm sure naturally mummies who just delivered would not be thinking about it at this point. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Sorry if this picture disturbs you but I had to share as it is information some may like to read on. Tried my best to not blow-up the picture, maintain a small & discreet one. Lol.
(Picture taken from web: http://www.slideshare.net/lindawylie3/perineal-issues-suturing)

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