Precautions and dietary taboos during confinement

Prioritize rest, avoid clear risks of infection/injury, and gradually return to normal life according to your own tolerance.； There are no foods that you must not touch in your diet. As long as you avoid foods you are allergic to, undercooked, unclean, and alcoholic, you can eat the rest normally on the premise of taking a step-by-step approach. Those widely circulated requirements of "no washing your hair, not getting out of bed, not eating salt, and not touching the cold" are not universal. Whether or not you comply depends entirely on your own physical feelings and habits. There is no need to force yourself to do it.

Last year, I accompanied my best friend to give birth to a baby in a public tertiary-grade obstetrics department. When I was discharged from the hospital, the first thing the doctor told her family members was, "Don't make her greasy milk soup. If you want to drink milk tea at room temperature, you can drink it as long as you don't have diarrhea." Turning around, my mother whispered to the side, "This is not okay. Drinking it cold will cause the root cause of the disease." In fact, this kind of conflict of ideas is normal. Many taboos passed down from the elders are essentially adapted to the living environment in the past where there was no hot water, no hair dryer, no cold chain preservation, and poor warmth preservation conditions. Nowadays, it is no longer a necessity.

Let’s talk about whether you can wash your hair and take a shower. My cousin had a side incision during childbirth. On the third day after delivery, it was confirmed that the wound was healing well. The room temperature was adjusted to 28 degrees and the water temperature was turned to 40 degrees. After taking a shower for 10 minutes, I immediately dried my hair with hot air. Now that my baby is 4 years old, she has never complained of a headache. On the contrary, I heard from a mother in the community two years ago that her sister-in-law endured 42 days without washing her hair. In the end, her scalp was scratched and she developed folliculitis, which required a sling bottle for three days. Of course, there are also schools of traditional Chinese medicine that believe that postpartum Qi and blood are deficient, the joints are loose, and wind can easily cause discomfort. It is recommended that you wait at least one week after giving birth before touching the water. This completely depends on personal choice. If you always feel that it will be uncomfortable after washing, it is okay to stay up for a few more days. You are not guilty of quarreling with the elderly at home for the sake of "science", and you are not guilty of tormenting yourself because of obey rules.

As for getting out of bed and moving around, you really don’t need to lie down for 30 days. Two hours after delivery, as long as you are not dizzy or weak, you can hold on to the wall and walk slowly for two steps. Don't always lie down and check your mobile phone. Sit up from time to time, or walk slowly for a few minutes in the living room. This will help discharge lochia and avoid venous thrombosis caused by long-term bed rest. Of course, if you had a caesarean section or had severe pelvic floor muscle injury, and the doctor specifically told you to stay in bed more, then just follow the doctor's advice. There is no unified standard. It is also said that you cannot use mobile phones or read books during confinement, which is even more outrageous. Originally, postpartum hormone fluctuations can easily lead to poor mood. If you don't let me watch interesting things to pass the time, it is really easy to suffer from postpartum depression. When I was in confinement, I also followed two comedy variety shows, and my eyesight did not decline. On the contrary, the amount of milk produced by Lehehe every day was more than that of other mothers in the same ward. Oh, by the way, don’t cover your confinement. Wear thick clothes and quilts in the summer. Every year, mothers get heat stroke and go to the ICU because of confinement. This is really life-threatening. No matter what the elderly at home say, keep the room temperature at 24-26 degrees. Breathable long-sleeved pants are enough. It’s okay to turn on the air conditioner when it’s hot. Just don’t face the wind.

When it comes to dietary taboos, let’s first dispel a rumor: there is absolutely no need to eat salt-free meals. Just add salt as normal, as long as you don't eat heavy pickled foods. Not adding salt at all will lead to electrolyte imbalance, making you feel weak and even unable to hold a baby. Fruits at room temperature can be eaten after being washed. My best friend gave birth to a baby in the summer. During the confinement period, she ate a popsicle freshly taken out of the refrigerator every day without any gastrointestinal problems. Her mother has been complaining for more than half a year that she will have stomach pains in the future. Now that the baby is 1 and a half years old, she has no stomach discomfort. Of course, if you have a weak stomach and have diarrhea when eating cold food, then definitely don’t touch it. Chinese medicine also recommends eating as little raw, cold, and spicy food as possible after childbirth to avoid irritating the gastrointestinal tract. It all depends on personal tolerance, and there is no right or wrong. Oh, by the way, drink less of those greasy pig's trotter soup and crucian carp soup. The layer of oil on top must be wiped off, otherwise it will not only block the breasts, but also make you gain weight very quickly. If you really want to produce breast milk, drinking more warm boiled water will work better than anything else.

Of course, there are a few minefields that are generally recognized to be avoided regardless of the school: First, alcohol-containing foods must not be touched, including fermented glutinous rice and medicinal wine used in many places for breastfeeding. Alcohol will enter the baby's body through the milk and affect the baby's neurological development. This is clearly scientifically based and cannot be discussed. Don't take supplements with ginseng, velvet antler, angelica root, or other powerful ingredients in the week before giving birth, otherwise it will easily aggravate bleeding and cause constipation. Never have sex before you have recovered from the puerperium, otherwise it will easily lead to uterine infection. This is also a hard rule. Also, don’t believe in any folk prescriptions that say “confinement disease can be cured during confinement”. If you really feel uncomfortable, go directly to the hospital. Don’t wait until the next confinement period for treatment. It is a real loss if a small problem turns into a big problem.

In fact, there are so many rigid rules that must be followed. Confinement is essentially the physical recovery period after giving birth. The core is that you are comfortable and your mood is more important than anything else. I have met so many mothers. Some of them followed the traditional confinement period and were very happy after 42 days of confinement. Some of them followed the advice of evidence-based medicine and washed their hair and drank iced drinks without any problems. On the contrary, those mothers who were kidnapped by various rules and could not eat what they wanted and could not do what they wanted to do were the most prone to emotional problems. To put it bluntly, you are the master of confinement, so you can do whatever makes you feel comfortable.