Post Delivery Care of Indian Mother in first 40 days (Diet in confinement)

Post Delivery Care of Indian Mother in first 40 days is somewhat different from that of a Western country. Although many of the confinement practices are similar, the diet that is given is different. A woman’s body is weak and vulnerable post delivery. In spite of this, she needs to look after her little one and feed the baby at regular intervals. This article will give you an insight about Post Delivery Care of Indian Mother in first 40 days.

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Post Delivery Care of Indian Mother

A new mother finds it difficult to adjust to the new routine . Moreover the people around her keep instructing you about even the smallest thing . Yes it is confusing . These tips about Post delivery care of Indian mother will help you understand what you need to do and why you need to do it. These tips will help you in believe in our age old practices of jaapa.

• Massage –

                                                                                                                           Image : Copyright: naumoid / 123RF Stock Photo

Midwives ( Also called Dais or Japa maids) are hired for 2-3 months. Dais mostly come from rural parts of India. Midwives are traditionally trained to take care of the mother and baby. Dais massage the baby and the mother very tenderly. This helps to strengthen their muscles. Massaging helps in keeping the baby warm. Massaging during the first 40 days helps to tone the body and firm up the loose skin after delivery.

If you had a normal delivery, chances ar that you might still feel weak in your lower body. Massaging the back , hip and waist area ensures that your lower body gains strength.

• Bathing

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Whether it is a normal delivery or a c section , the new mother needs assistance in bathing. The nurses and midwives help the mother in bathing without hurting the stitches. The incisions heal and dry at a slow pace.

If you have stitches near your vagina from delivery, the doctors will ask you to take a betadine bath. All you need to do is fill a tub with hot water and pour in some betadine solution and sit in this tub. Betadine is antiseptic . It helps in healing the stitches fast and avoiding any infection.

Pouring hot water on your back, waist and hip will help in reducing the body pain and you will feel stronger within weeks. Many Indians believe that if proper care is not taken within the first 40 – 45 days after delivery , chances are that the women might  face frequent backaches later in her life.

• Clothing

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The mother should wear loose fitting clothes.  Clothes with a front opening makes the feeding process easy . Wearing a nursing bra underneath clothes is essential . Many new mothers avoid wearing bras during this period for the ease of feeding. The breast size of a new mom increases as the mammary glands become functional. Hence it is important to wear nursing bras to support the breasts. There is a fair chance that the women may have loose breast if proper support is not provided. So please take good care. Women lose a lot of blood and placental lining after childbirth and this process goes on for about 40 days. She must wear comfortable underwear with panty liners to avoid staining.

A lot of women feel cold after delivery. This may be due to climate or due to weakness in the body. It is essential to wear warm clothes. They will simply make you feel better.  In Olden days , Indian mothers used to tie a scarf around their head to cover their ears. Many women still practice this.  Science says that soon after delivery , the body becomes sore and weak. If the body is not kept warm , the new mother can develop serious headaches and pain in the body. Hence it is wise to  tie a scarf and wear socks in your feet. This will only speed up your healing process.

• Intercourse

Most doctors advise the patients to abstain from having sexual intercourse during this time as it can affect the healing process. Please take it . Additionally, a doctor recommends patients to keep a gap of at least three years between two pregnancies so that the mother’s body can replenish its nutrients and is strong enough to bear the child again. After 2 -3 months restriction your body will be ready for inter course. Proper contraception should used to assure that you do not acquire another pregnancy immediately.

• Rest

The most important part of this confinement period is rest. Resting may become boring to you after 2-3 weeks of delivery . But take my advice and sleep. Sleep as much as you can. sleeping is the best recovery and healing medicine for your body. Later you will die to get these restful day back. The baby might not let you sleep well during the night as he is yet to get accustomed to the day and night part. So sleep when the baby sleeps.

My grandmother always used to warn me to confine from electronic devices like mobile phones and laptops during my confinement period. I used to find it irrelevant. And i continued  using my mobile phones for browsing every time i got bored.  Well i later realized that my eyes used to pain a lot and i used to end up getting an headache after a little while. So i am telling you out of experience, that limit your mobile time. keep the mobile away from the baby and from you to avoid those radiations affect you in any way.

• Challenges faced by a new mother

Post delivery the life of a woman revolves around her baby. A baby needs a lot of care and attention and needs to be handled delicately. Babies wake up in the middle of the night at odd hours and the mother is hardly able to sleep. She can only take rest when the baby is asleep and she doesn’t have any other chores to attend to. Her body is also in the healing stage but she needs to attend to the baby’s needs first. Doctors advise new mothers to avoid taking stress, watching TV, climbing stairs and lifting heavy weights.

Childbirth and hormonal changes might make her feel overwhelmed. The joy of motherhood is accompanied by numerous responsibilities and duties. Since the baby can only communicate his needs by crying, mothers have a big challenge trying to figure out the tone of crying and the associated need of the baby. She needs a lot of support from her family, especially from her husband. She needs emotional support and a helping hand in taking care of the baby.

Post delivery Diet of an Indian Mother

The diet of a mother is to be planned with utmost care. The baby receives all the nutrients from mother’s milk. A new mother must eat a nutritionally adequate diet and at the same time she must eat light meals so that she can digest the food easily. If she becomes constipated, she would have to apply a lot of effort during bowel movement and this would put pressure on the incisions. She must take small frequent meals as she needs to feed the baby after every two hours.

• Ghee

When i comes to Post Delivery Care of Indian Mother, the practice of making her eat ghee is very common. It is a good practice but ghee should be consumed in moderation to avoid excess weight gain. Not only does it help to gain strength, it provides nutrition to the baby and also eases bowel movement. Panjiri, a preparation made with ghee, wheat flour and sugar is also given to the mother as it is highly nutritious and aids in lactation. It also helps to replenish the nutrients of the mother.

• Aniseeds

Aniseeds are very beneficial for the mother and the baby. You can prepare a parantha with aniseed since it aids in digestion and helps to cleanse the uterus. You can boil some water with aniseeds and drink it whenever thirsty. In fact, In some families the mother is also made to take bath with water boiled with aniseeds to clean her body.

• Fenugreek

Fenugreek is given in the form of ladoos. Fenugreek is very high in proteins and thus aids in  baby’s growth. Gondh Ladoos are also very commonly given in India since they help to speed up the process of recovery. Besan ladoos, date ladoos and til ladoos are also eaten very commonly since they contain lots of vitamins and proteins and help to reduce backaches.

• Liquids

She must drink lots of liquids, especially water since it helps to hydrate the body and also facilitates milk formation. The mother may also take coconut water, vegetable soups and hot milk.

• Vegetables

A mother must eat lots of green vegetables since they contain all the nutrients which are essential for the growth and development of the baby.

• Khichadi

Khichadi with vegetables is given in the first few days since it contains all the required nutrients and it is very easy to digest as it is in semi-solid form.

• Cumin seeds and fennel seed

These seeds are of much help to the new mother. Cumin water can be taken once or twice a day since it helps to fight infections and keeps the stomach healthy. Fennel seeds can be eaten in small quantity after a meal as they aid in digestion, boost the immunity and facilitate milk production.

# How to increase breast milk production ?

check our post on home remedies to increase breast milk

Post delivery care of Indian Mothers includes these traditional practices. They hold importance since times immemorial as they are much more nutritious than any junk food and help the mother to cope up with the challenges of motherhood