8 common questions
of confinement
Is it true that one could make use of confinement to condition
their body constitution? How could the body be conditioned and how to do
confinement? How to nourish the body based on different body types? These are
common questions which pregnant women ask and 8 common questions will be
reviewed from a professional’s standpoint.
1. Why should one do
confinement? What is the purpose? Can it really change the body’s constitution?
As the mother loses a lot of blood during labor, together with
sweat, back aches, tummy pains – this is a very physically tiring process. Your
tendons and bones and blood is weakened and makes it easy for the cold to
invade the body. This requires a period of time to adjust and nourish your
body. Thus, it makes confinement essential to restore health. During confinement,
do suitable exercise and rest, including suitable food for and tonics to help
the uterus contract to its natural size before birth. With proper conditioning,
blood and stamina would slowly recover and become better than before. During
this period, poor constitution would also improve.
2. What are the basic
principles of confinement?
(a) Be mindful of
temperature difference.
Due to different environments and change in weather and
temperature, the mother should wear suitable clothes and prepare suitable
electronic devices indoor to adjust the temperature and humidity. Indoor
temperature should be kept at between 25-26 degrees with a 50-60% humidity. The
mother should wear long sleeves, long pants and socks to prevent catching a
cold. This also prevents the joints from ‘having wind’ and pain.
(b) Appropriate work and
rest
To expel toxins and to recover the body and figure, suitable rest
and exercise is necessary. During the initial stage, the mother will feel weak
and tired with possible headaches and should rest in bed. One should not get
out of bed for more than half-an-hour. Wait till your strength is restored, you
can extend this time and keep it to an hour or two to prevent prolonged periods
of standing or sitting that will cause backaches and back-pains, knee and joint
pains.
(c) Keep clean
Hair and body should be cleaned regularly to stay fresh and
prevent bacterial infection
(d) Adjust your diet
The previous steps are similar for everyone. However, for diet,
there should be a distinction based on one’s constitution. Also, the expulsion
of toxins and breastfeeding may be difficult for some, or when there’s cold,
ulcers, itch, gastric etc. This is when diet and medication has to change. In the past, due to less ideal environments
and bad living conditions without electrical appliances, confinement rules were
stricter, for example no showering and washing of hair for a month. However, in
modern days, people do not need to go through these hardships, but diet plays
the biggest role and it’s best to get a Chinese doctor to recommend accordingly
based on body constitution.
3. Must alcohol be added
in all confinement food?
Confinement food should be cooked with ginger as it warms the
uterus and joints. The purpose of alcohol is for blood circulation and helps in
the expulsion of toxins. If all toxins are expelled fully, cooking with alcohol
may cause the uterus to not shrink.
4. Why is ginseng prohibited
during initial confinement when it nourishes and increase strength?
During confinement, the body starts to expel all toxins and
fluids. Ginseng increases strength (补气) and stops the blood (止血). Ginseng
causes blood to lessen (血晕变少), making it difficult to expel the toxins and causes blood clots
and pain the uterus. Thus, wait for 2-3 weeks before consuming ginseng.
5. The
effect of different seasons on nourishment
The diet has to be adjusted based on the 4 seasons, otherwise
there will be side effects. Traditional confinement food is heaty and suitable
for winter. During summer and spring, ginger and alcohol can be reduced. If the
weather is extremely hot, alcohol can be omitted but add 2-3 slices of ginger.
6. What are the principles
of confinement for women with different body constitutions?
The different body constitutions and food analysis as
follow:
Cold Constitution (寒性体质)
Characteristic: Pale,
afraid of the cold, pale mouth and seldom thirsty, urinate often with pale
urine, clear pale tongue, liquid mucus, phlegm, get colds often.
Food: Weak
tummy and intestines, cold hands and feet due to poor blood circulation. Eat
more warm food such as sesame chicken but not too oily food to prevent diarrhea
(如麻油鸡、烧酒鸡、四物汤、四物鸡或十全大补汤等) Warm
food can aid blood circulation, nourishing the blood and strengthening the
bones, preventing backaches.
Prohibited
foods: Cold fruits and vegetables
such as watermelon, papaya, pomelo, grapefruit, pears, star fruits, oranges,
tomatoes, melons, rock melon
To eat: Lychee,
longan, apple, strawberry, cherries, grapes.
Hot Constitution (热性体质)
Characteristic: Red face and eyes, heat intolerance, warm
feet and hands, dry mouth, dry stools or constipation, thick yellow mucus, less
urine but yellow, dry and red tongue, ulcers often, skin sores.
Food: Not to
eat too much sesame chicken, When cooking sesame chicken, reduce ginger and
amount of sesame oil and alcohol. Other recommended food for nourishment
include herbal chicken, black glutinous rice, fish soup, pork ribs soup,
vegetables like shark-fins melon, winter melon, lotus root to reduce heatines
or vegetable-tofu soup. For those with backache, cook pork kidney soup after
frying it with (杜仲五钱).
Prohibited
foods: Lychee, longans, apples
Eat some: oranges,
strawberries, cherries, grapes.
Neutral Constitution (中性体质)
Characteristic: Not too hot
nor too cold, no dry mouth, seldom fall sick.
Foods: Easier choice of diet can nourish with herbs and food with
no issues. If nourishing food causes dry mouth or pimples, stop nourishing food
for a period and eat more cooling vegetables or fresh orange juice or grape
juice without ice.
7. What are the common
symptoms after birth?
Common symptoms are anemia, insufficient breast milk, mastitis,
metritis, bodyahce, backache, diarrhea, headache, constipation. High iron foods such as meat, black glutinous
rice porridge, red bean soup could help anemia. For constipation, eat bananas,
sesame paste with honey. For engorgement (可用1两麦芽糖、3钱蒲公英、3钱王不留行，共同炖煮食物吃，可促进排乳。)
8. Reasons for aches after
birth?
As the baby feeds as they sleep for a long time and the mother
sits for too long with sometimes long nights of carrying the baby, backaches
and pain in the elbow and wrists. To avoid such pains, the mother has to be
mindful of posture, have support at the back, rest more, walk less and do not
get out of bed for more than an hour. 可炖煮杜仲猪腰汤，恶露干净后可吃十全大补汤（内含杜仲、续断），对解除筋骨酸痛都有不错的效果。
Hsio S Confinement recipe
No fruits for first and second week
to prevent water retention.
First day after birth (5
meals a day):
Breakfast: Fish with ginger soup, sesame mee sua, green vegetables
Lunch: Sesame pork liver, 5-grained rice, mixed vegetables.
Tea: Sweet corn porridge
Dinner: Herbal chicken leg, salmon fried rice
Supper: Sweet potatoes with brown sugar
Next 3 weeks:
Week 1:
Seabass fish soup, pork liver to expel toxins
Week 2:
Pork kidney and nourishing soups to replenish calcium and
minerals.
Week 3:
Sesame chicken
