Traditional Chinese postnatal confinement or "sitting the month" need not be exactly a month or 30 days but in fact, after a month of recuperation, many organs of the body might not have fully recovered. For example, the retraction of the uterus needs six weeks to return to it's pre-pregnancy size and the endometrial regeneration and repair of the placenta attachment will also take six weeks. It will also take 6-8 weeks for the postpartum abdominal wall to recover from the tension. If mothers do heavy manual work during this recovery period, they will have a higher tenancy to suffer from uterine prolapse.
Personal hygiene during the confinement period
By tradition the mother is not supposed to bathe during confinement. she is also not to wash her hair as it is a source of "Yin coldness" entering her body. In modern context, this practice is unreasonable and can be adjusted.
For the first month, there will be more vaginal discharge. Use warm water daily to clean the genitals. Change the sanitary pad more regularly and keep the perineum area clean and dry. The lochia or vagina discharge after child birth will be quite sterile for the first 2-3 days and after that will be colonized by vaginal commensals such as non-hemolytic streptococci and E. coli. Thus it is important to prevent infections. The discharge will continue for about 4-6 weeks.
2 week after delivery, the mother can start to take a bath and also to wash the hair but she would have to adhere strictly to a sponge bath. A tub bath will cause contaminated water to enter the reproductive tract and cause infection.
6 weeks after delivery, She can take a full shower.
The bedroom must be well ventilated and the indoor temperature is not kept too high, nor fluctuating. In the past, doors and windows are kept shut and the mother must cover herself with thick blankets or clothing. However, this is very dangerous, especially in Singapore and can easily be a cause of heat stroke.
But do pay attention to the following points:
- During postpartum or confinement period, the mother must avoid having the fan blowing directly at her.
- With regards to the air conditioner, the vent must not face the mother and the ideal room temperature would be between 25 to 28 degrees Celsius.
-During confinement, if the clothes are wet due to excessive amount of sweat,they must immediately be changed to dry clothes. Prepare an extra nightgown by the bedside,so when the mother need to get up in the middle of the night to do baby feeding, she can immediately put it on and will not be affected by the cold.
In the past, many women blindly believe in the "old rules" - confinement can not brush your teeth so after one month of postpartum confinement, they also lose one tooth. Mothers should brush teeth twice daily with the choice of a soft bristle toothbrush and using gentle brushing strokes. Every time after eating, the mouth should be rinsed with warm water.
If the mother is able to, she should begin brushing her teeth, preferably not more than three days after birth.
Need to pay attention to the following points:
1. Take special notice of calcium nutrition during pregnancy and maintaining good oral hygiene to avoid tooth damage.
2. The body is undergoing an adjustment after childbirth and is sensitive to cold stimulation. Therefore,the mother must remember to use warm water to brush her teeth, and soak soft toothbrush in warm water first to prevent excessive cold stimulation of the teeth and gum irritation.
3. Brush every morning and evening. Also brush again every time before going to bed or after supper.
4. Teeth rinsing, that means by washing the index finger and gauze wrapping the index finger and toothpaste on the finger to act as a brush head. Wipe up and down,back and forth on the teeth and then the finger pressing the gum a few times in the three days after giving birth. This approach is good for promoting blood circulation, and for strong teeth plus avoiding loose teeth.
5. As for nails, nails cutting can be as usual.
6. Clean the nipple with warm water before breast feeding but do not use soap, alcohol, detergents so to avoid removing the natural protection of the nipple and areola skin film.
For more information on postnatal or postpartum confinement care, please check out postnatal-confinement.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Steve_G_Zhao
No comments:
Post a Comment