What Is Chinese Confinement And Why Should Postpartum Moms Do It?
The Chinese confinement (zuo yue zi) is a postpartum recovery plan for new mothers spanning a full month (some go by 28 days) after delivering a baby.
This tradition has many has been passed down from generation to generation across different regions, and the rules of confinement may also vary in different parts of the world.
This confinement period is important to restore the body’s optimum health and to recuperate fully from delivery.
New mothers are usually urged to follow the rules as strictly as possible.
During this time, the mother and baby are to stay in, and a daily menu of a balanced diet consisting lots of nutritious confinement food will be prepared for the mother.
How To Do Confinement?
There are two popular ways in which to do confinement.
One is to hire the expertise of a confinement lady who will come to the house and live with the family and perform confinement services for the length of time needed.
The other is to check in to a confinement centre, where mother and baby will stay there throughout the whole confinement period.
When you hire a confinement lady to your house, she will do the necessary to look after you and baby and cook confinement food for you.
Some will cook meals for the entire family, whilst some may choose to only cook for the new mother.
You will need to check with the confinement ladies you interview before hiring, to know exactly the extent of their services because each individual may have different offerings.
During this period, a new mother should adhere to some important do’s and don’ts. This list is not exhaustive, but here’s some popular confinement rules to follow:
- Avoid contact with cold water. In some strict practise, some mothers are not allowed to shower and wash their hair during confinement. However, more commonly practised would be to wash themselves using boiled water, with some special herbs immersed in it to make the water lesser “cooling” for the body.
- No body parts (including the full length of the limbs) should be exposed in order not to be exposed to the cold. Mothers are advised to wear long sleeves tops and long pants, and socks for the feet. Some strict rules even call for not turning on the fan and air conditioning.
- The mother must not go outside the house during the period and remain indoors at all times.
- Eat only freshly cooked confinement food, and no raw, cooling, or leftover overnight food should be eaten.
- No sexual intercourse.
What Is Confinement Food?
Confinement food is predominantly to serve the purposes of purging “wind” from the body of a new mother, to promote blood circulation, strengthen the body system and core energy, and promote a healthy flow of milk supply.
It is believe that cooling foods must be avoided at all cost and be replaced with “heating” ingredients so that the new mother can gain the optimum health benefits of confinement foods.
The usual staple of confinement food will consist of ingredients such as ginger, rice wine and sesame oil. Some of the common dishes during confinement are fish soup and young papaya soup to promote production of milk for breastfeeding mothers, double boiled chicken soup, pig’s trotters in ginger and black vinegar, sesame and ginger chicken, and lots of herbal soup to name a few. You can easily buy the herbal ingredients from any traditional chinese medicine shops.
A popular feature is also the red date tea that is to replace water for the mother’s daily liquid intake. Water is considered to be “cooling”, hence it is to be avoided. It is also to avoid water retention during this period or recovery.
Some Confinement Myths
Myth 1: You should not walk about and should only lie in bed to rest
These days, doctors do recommend new mothers to get up from their bed and walk in order to keep their blood circulation going and decrease the risk of blood clots. It is also considered to be a part of their recovery exercise. Of course, this is only to be done when the recovering mother feels comfortable and well enough a few days after delivery.
Myth 2: Don’t cry or read
It is believe that the eyes are linked to the liver, and during this period a mother should not weaken the liver functions by straining their eyes. Hence, crying or reading is discouraged. However, there is no scientific proof as yet.
Myth 3: A mother’s confinement diet should only consist of meat and liver and avoid vegetables and fruits as they are considered “cooling” for the body.
In this regard, confinement ladies would usually cook vegetables with some slices of ginger thrown in as ginger is regarded as a “heating” ingredient. The truth is that a mother should eat a balanced diet to help with restoring important nutrients. Fibres from vegetables and grains are important as part of a healthy diet.
Myth 4: Do not shower and wash your hair.
Although time is spent sitting it out indoors at home, our bodies to sweat especially when some forbid the use of fan and air conditioning, and even avoid wind being blown at new mothers. Mothers need to keep up with their hygiene level at this time too, and need to have proper washes to keep herself clean and comfortable especially around the perineum. More importantly, a mother needs to avoid infections by keeping clean.
Myth 5: Do not go to the altar or a place of worship
It is a belief held that a woman who has delivered a baby is “unclean” and therefore not suitable to present herself at a place of worship. There is of course no scientific proof on this belief.
Confinement Recipes By Dishes
Here are some delicious and nutritious confinement food recipes.
Confinement Food Services In Singapore
There are confinement food delivery service or confinement catering available in Singapore and there are many choices you can choose from. Some of these services are listed below.
Yue Zi Le Confinement Catering