Asian Tradition Postnatal Confinement: What Is It?

While Chinese, Malay or Indian traditions might have different practices when it comes to postnatal confinement, they have one aim in common which is to help the mother regain vitality after the vigours of child bearing.

The guiding principle is based on the theory that the body's Yin and Yang forces would be "out of balance" after giving birth to a child. The mother's body would be in a stage where the yin is over dominant due to loss of blood and energy during the process. Therefore the postnatal confinement period is meant to replenish the energy the body lost and to restore the Yin and Yang balance. Postnatal confinement in Chinese literally means "sitting the month" and basically mothers are relieved of most of their mundane duties to sit down and recover.

Traditionally, the mother-in-law would be the one taking care of the new mother. However most Chinese ladies prefer to engage a confinement nanny for companion during the confinement month) who will be tasked with taking care of the new mother and the baby. She will also be responsible for the cooking of suitable tonics and confinement dishes for the mother, bathe the baby and doing the laundry of the baby. The confinement nanny is also supposed to take over the feeding of the baby during the night time so that the mother can have adequate rest.

The traditional confinement lasts for about a month and as the terms suggest, there are many restrictions on the new mother during the period. For the Chinese, it started from the day the baby is born until its first month. sometimes families might also extend the confinement if the mother needs more time to recover from a Cesarean section birth.

There are several rules to follow during the confinement period: 
- Staying indoors and avoid going out as much as possible 
- sex after childbirth is prohibited as the mother is not considered fully healed. 
- prohibited from taking cold drinks or eating too cooling or Yin food. 
- avoid exposure to "yin" or cold element such as no washing of hair for the entire period. Air-conditioning set at very low temperatures or fans at high speeds must be avoided too. 
- Bathing with specially prepared warm herbal bath.

According to Chinese tradition, not following the rules will cause the body to be exposed to more "yin" energy or cold energy and will likely result in rheumatism and other related health ailments at a later stage in life.

Some Malay confinement practices also involved massaging the abdomen and binding it with a long cloth. Hot stones was also used to expel wind and impurities from the womb.

Indian mothers would do daily massages with specially blended oil extracted from mustard seed. There is also a secondary function which is to help the mother regain her pre-pregnancy figure faster.