5 ‘Advice’ Regarding Confinement You Shouldn’t Follow

“Take your shoes off when entering home”, “Feng Shui”, “Don’t stick your chopsticks vertically into your bowl of rice” these are just among many other common practices and advice we generally follow or at least have come across as an Asian. 

Likewise, many Singaporeans or Asians in general hold their culture, tradition, and practice deep within their hearts, but is this always a good thing?

One tradition, in particular, is one that many new mothers either choose to or are required to follow; the postpartum confinement. which is the period after childbirth. Confinement is the period right after childbirth which can go up until one month to over 40 days.

During confinement, the mother has a set of traditional rules, specific diet, and practices that she should follow to promote quick recovery and boost energy levels in her body. 

Not dismissing its importance, some of these traditional confinement food provide nourishment through improving their overall health. However, times are changing, and most confined mothers are no longer following some restrictive traditional practices that have no medical basis. Some of these old confinement ‘advice’ include:

1. You should not drink plain water

“Why is this even an advice? What harm will drinking water during confinement do?” If these are your thoughts, you’re right, there’s no harm in drinking water! However, back then, perhaps due to lack of resources, people seem to relate water to water retention, believing that drinking a lot of water can either worsen body swellings or causing the ‘wind’ to easily enter the body. 

While all these ‘reasons’ have been completely debunked by professional health experts, you can still look into the reasoning behind such ‘advice’. Plus, in the olden days, there may not be access to clean water which, understandably, can cause certain health and safety concerns. 

Hence, while it is important that we keep educating ourselves on the correct information and knowledge, it is also wise to understand the origin of a particular practice. At least, now that we know better, we have more answers to more questions!  

Mothers are said not to be allowed to drink plain water during the confinement period to avoid cooling down the body. So, what to drink during confinement then? Instead of water, mothers are advised to take red date tea mixed with dried longan, which has excellent healing properties. Sure, these herbs can be considered one of the best confinement foods for any mother, but hydration still matters the most and it is best to come from plain water. 

New mothers tend to sweat and visit the bathroom frequently, which means that they are at high risk of dehydration if they do not take in enough water. Therefore, a few glasses of warm water per day is essential for you during confinement.

2. Do not wash your head or take a shower

TCM professionals are against cleaning your head or taking a bath during confinement. The traditional confinement experts believe that taking any bath allows wind to enter your body, leading to joint pains and other severe conditions such as rheumatism. 

However, this will only make the new mother more miserable during the confinement period and increase the chances of catching hygiene-related infections. Therefore, a mother can take a bath in hot water and dry her body as fast as possible to avoid falling sick. Alternatively, she can use water infused with healing herbs to ensure she stays as warm as possible while taking a bath or washing hair.

3. You should take rice wine to promote blood circulation

Rice wine was one of the best confinement foods in the past, but most people are against its intake today. Relatives would usually boil the rice wine to evaporate all the alcohol content before serving. 

However, times are changing now, and most people are going for confinement caterers rather than having their mothers or in-laws prepare the confinement dishes. Therefore, you should avoid any food with alcohol content especially if you are not monitoring its preparation. This prevents serious health cases such as liver cirrhosis on your child or worsening any case of jaundice.

4. You should only eat meat, liver, and herbs

Some traditional caregivers believe in specific foods that are essential to keep the body warm at all times. Meat and liver are excellent sources of protein and iron while confinement herbs are excellent sources of minerals and body-building ingredients. 

Regardless, you should not rely on only specific foods for your nutritional needs as the body requires a balanced diet to function properly. Remember that your baby also depends on whatever you consume to meets their dietary requirements, so you should consider investing a lot on eating well-balanced nutritious food. 

If you are not sure where to start, simply look for confinement meals Singapore delivery services and go through their list of foods! You’ll realise that you do not have to restrict your daily meals as much as you thought. On the other hand, you can also give us a call and talk to us about our confinement lunch and dinner!

5. Avoid using fan or air conditioner

There is a common belief that the cold air will introduce wind in the body. Therefore, new mothers should not use an air conditioner or a fan even with the hot and humid temperatures in Singapore. 

However, exposure to very high temperatures may cause heat rash or render you and your child uncomfortable throughout the day and night. You should consider turning on the fan to increase air circulation in the room and create a peaceful environment. All this should be done in moderation to avoid introducing a lot of cold air in the house.

Besides that, do you notice how you are treating yourself and knowing when to snap out of something unhealthy? It can bring more harm than good to your experience in motherhood.

Here are 5 unhealthy habits that many new mothers find themselves falling into and should definitely stop doing.

Dieting

Perhaps you’ve seen celebrities successfully slimming down to their old bodies or being in even better shape in just a short period after delivery, and you want that too. And when you see that you’re not getting the same results, you do your best to cut down on your food intake, eating less than you should. It is important to understand that this can put your body in jeopardy, and that celebrities are able to do so because they have professionals and experts by their side like nutritionists, dieticians, and exercise coaches. So, you should not blindly follow suit.

Calorie restriction after giving birth is harmful to recovery. Instead of getting your ideal body now, what you’re doing is limiting the nutrients and energy your body needs. Without proper and sufficient nutrition, your body isn’t able to replenish what it has lost, faces a bigger hurdle of getting additional dietary requirements, and won’t have the energy to take care of you or your little one.

One of the most common diet misconceptions is that carbohydrates are what causes weight gain. So many people look to low carb diets. A popular diet that has been on-trend for the past few years is the ketogenic diet which is low carb and high fat. Being on a ketogenic diet or calorie-restricted diet may put you at higher risk of ketoacidosis which is a dangerous condition and can be life-threatening for the mother.

Eating balanced and healthy meals will help to support your nutritional stores, immune system, and optimal body functions. The better you eat, the better nutrition your child receives too. Paired with a healthy lifestyle while breastfeeding, you will be able to lose weight healthily when your body and you are ready to.

Negative-self talk

After childbirth, a new mum would want to give herself up for her child. When she feels like she’s not doing a good job, she may start putting herself down for not being a good enough mother and compare herself with other maternal figures. She may start negatively talking to or about herself regarding many things that are out of her control like body image or weight gain from pregnancy. This adversely affects her mental well-being and self-esteem.

Many aspects of this could be related to postpartum depression. This 2020 study explains that lowered self-esteem aggravates depression which then leads to negative self-perception. New mothers need time to adjust to their new responsibilities while recovering physically and rebalancing their emotions and mental state, making post-pregnancy quite a challenging time. Unfortunately, social media is also one of the causes of unrealistic expectations among new mothers about motherhood and recovery during postpartum. So, they should take it easy on themselves and find people who can be there to give positive reinforcements and be supportive.

It is important for mothers to set some time for themselves. Whether it’s needing extra help to take care of your child because you feel clueless, doing house chores, wanting to work out to be alone and get some free space or feeling overwhelmed with preparing meals, discuss with your partner and do not be afraid to seek help professionally, your friends or family. Make steps to take care of yourself, too, and not just your baby. A happy mother will in turn, be a better mother for her child.

Tracking every munch

Wanting to lose all that belly gain from pregnancy can be a stressful endeavour and one may opt to count calories in hopes that it will reduce cravings and get you that slim figure you once had. However, the stress you get from this may actually increase your cravings.

In addition, calorie counting plays a hand in eating disorders, as shown in this limited study. The more you punish yourself for responding to those cravings or even hunger, the more it is going to take a toll on your body. Rather than intensely controlling your food intake, you should be having sumptuous and nourishing meals every day. Confinement delivery Singapore makes the process easier as you won’t need to prepare the ingredients or cook for yourself.

Exercising to justify every bite

Exercise is highly recommended for everyone, whether it is before, during, or after pregnancy. It is usually done for reasons like wanting to gain energy, trying to relieve stress, or hoping to lose weight. That being said, the duration, repetitions, and type of exercise should be in moderation or according to your usual exercise routine, and not so zealously done in order to combat whatever you put in your mouth.

Exercising aggressively too soon or not having enough rest in between workouts can be detrimental to your body. After delivery, it is normal for there to be bleeding, or lochia, which is discharge from the uterus. If you exercise too soon, there is increased blood flow throughout your body and the uterus receives a lot of it, especially now that it is bigger in size, leading to heavier bleeding. You would not want that, since there already has been a huge loss of blood during the birthing process. It would be best to refer to your doctor to know how much, how long, and when you should be exercising instead of focusing on the physical ideals you may have.

Feeling guilty when you put yourself first

As a new mum, you want the best for your baby, to be there whenever he or she needs you, to provide everything your child needs. Sometimes, new mothers set too high an expectation for themselves and feel bad when they do less than what they think is expected of them or guilty for wanting to step away from that idealism even for a while.

Learning how to take a step back and seeing yourself as equally important as your baby can be difficult, especially when you’re a new mum and are still learning the ropes. Know that you have the right to pamper yourself and set some boundaries. If you’re not ready for visitors, don’t have them. If you want a postnatal massage, go for it! There is nothing wrong with saying yes to yourself. You need the best for you to be the best for your baby.

After reading about these myths and unhealthy habits, do you now know what you should be doing? You should be giving yourself a big pat on the back for having pushed a human out of you and for doing your best for your child. You should be appreciating yourself more and treating yourself well, especially during confinement, which is when your body is at its weakest after childbirth. This is when you should be consuming healthy and nutritious food, and you can order that here at Tian Wei Signature.

If you don’t know what to get, take a look at the confinement food package available. There are a variety of options to choose from and you can even get confinement meals delivery. How convenient! So what are you waiting for? Head on over right now.