For many parents, we tend to relegate ourselves to the backseat when the baby arrives. Everything we do or spend on henceforth is for our children, which is all great and cool! But we’ve got a reminder for you, mummies—self-care is the best gift you can ever give your child and your family! You need to take care of yourself before you can take care of others. Just like how when the oxygen masks drop on the flight, you are advised to wear one on yourself first before helping your child.
This should start right from the time we get pregnant! Eating right, keeping ourselves safe, managing our mood, avoiding smoking and heavy drinking, etc. And when the baby comes, we will now go into a month-long rest—or what we commonly call, the confinement month.
What do we need to prepare that will determine how well we can recuperate overall, besides bonding with our new baby? Here are a few main areas to look into in preparation for a peaceful and restorative month.
Keep Comfortable
After pushing a baby out of our body, understandably, it will feel sore, achy, and painful, some areas more so than others. So, it is good to organise a care kit for yourself in case you need to relieve an ache in the middle of a night feed!
Different ladies have different preferences and needs but here are some basic things we anticipate useful after giving birth:
- Sanitary napkins
- Breast pads
- Nipple cream for soreness
- Doughnut pillow to cushion the sore birthing site
- Clothing articles to keep warm, i.e. socks, house slippers. Some prefer sarongs as they are airy, comfy, adjustable and make toilet visits more convenient; lose cotton tees and button-down shirts for sweaty days and easy access when baby cries for a feed.
- Bed pads are helpful in keeping the bed sheets from blood stains.
Confinement Diet
In Chinese culture, food is always the most important thing, especially so for a new mother during her confinement month. If you are in home confinement, then take time to research and plan out your meals.
Once you are ready, share your meal plans with your confinement lady or caregiver (usually our mums or mums-in-law!). These ladies are a walking treasure trove of experience, so don’t be afraid to discuss with them and learn from their experiences. However, you do not need to feel pressured into consuming what you are not comfortable with—there are always alternatives or workarounds.
There is also an option of catering confinement food these days so that your caregiver can focus on taking care of you and your baby instead of slaving over the stove.
Stock the Kitchen
Once the diet plan is set, then it is time to plan out what you, or rather, your caregiver needs to cook you these yummy meals.
Besides the standard meat, poultry, fish, and vegetables (tip: find out the suppliers’ phone numbers so you may arrange for them to deliver the supplies or make reservations on a weekly basis), here is a list of common cooking ingredients needed for Chinese confinement:
- Sesame oil
- Yellow wine
- Black vinegar
- Bentong ginger
- Herbal alcohol like Dome, Yomeishu, etc.
- Red dates and goji berries
- Convenient herbal packs for oral consumption as well as for bathing
- There are herbal baths for babies too, so find out and decide if you need these
Do you have enough pots and pans for the heavy-duty cooking this month? What about flasks and tumblers to keep your food, herbal drinks, and water warm?
Rope your husband and parents in to help with getting your kitchen ready. Start early so you won’t get overwhelmed or stressed out.
Mummy’s Time
I know that sure sounds selfish, right? Your baby has just arrived and you are talking about me-time already? Pfft!
Well, far from it! The confinement month is essentially for your recovery first!
Start asking around for a good, trustworthy masseuse and arrange for her to come by for post-natal massages. Traditionally, these massages are known to expel wind and expedite our healing. It also helps us to get back in shape quicker as the first month post-delivery is when our body is still ‘raw’ from the labour and is ‘malleable’.
You may also need to prepare postnatal tummy wraps, depending on your masseuse’s advice, most are available for purchase online. However, if you have had a c-section, then hold off the massages and tummy-wrapping until your doctor gives you the green light to do so.
Now, it is easy to suck into the temptation of scrolling our social media apps the whole day now that we get to just lay around in the name of resting. Exercise your willpower against being on screen for a long period of time to avoid tiring your eyes out. Wear blue ray-blocking glasses when you do need to use the gadgets.
The confinement time is a great time to sneak in as many naps as possible since you have someone to help you out with the baby. So don’t feel guilty, you will have the next 18 years to care for your baby personally!
Now, For the Baby
Contrary to popular belief, newborns really do not need a lot. Now, let’s try to break it down and see if we can make a concise list, shall we?
- A few sets of clothing – hand-me-downs work as well because they outgrow their outfits so fast.
- Diapers – disposable or reusable.
- Cotton face cloths, swaddling cloths, mittens and socks.
- Our Chinese mums swear by using oils like Ru Yi Oil on the baby’s belly button – it is believed to expel wind and keep the baby warm and comfortable.
- Have a small tub of nappy cream handy for those unexpected nappy rashes.
- Breastfeeding or formula? The choice is yours and there should never be shame and judgement involved. Prepare accordingly so that you don’t get flustered when your baby is crying in hunger. Breast pumps and storage bottles for the breastfeeders; and choice of formula and feeding bottles, if you so decide.
- Pacifiers – decide if you want to introduce this to your baby or prefer your baby to self-soothe. There are many different thoughts out there on the use of pacifiers, so read up and take your camp!
- And of course, you will need to prepare a baby cot with a mattress and pillow designed for babies; it is best to avoid letting your baby sleep on your bed to prevent sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and other safety reasons.
- Finally, and most importantly, is to install a certified baby car seat for travel. However short the distance is, always buckle your baby up!
Baby, We Are Home!
Motherhood is a life-changing and exciting event in every woman’s life. It is important that we learn to focus on what matters most, and that is ours and the baby’s wellbeing. Let’s keep to the basics and not set too high a bar for ourselves to reach on our own!
Thankfully, help is always available in this modern age, unlike in our mother’s time! Why not leave the details of our confinement month to the experts?
These days, all-in-one services like a confinement centre truly take the burden off a new mum’s shoulders; many have certified medical personnel on board to keep both mummy and baby safe and healthy during their first month.
One notable place is Byond28 Confinement Centre.
A Trusted Support in Byond28
Established in 2020, Byond28 Confinement Centre understands that this critical postpartum month requires comprehensive mother/baby care and support. It combines the best of traditional Chinese confinement care with modern medical practices so you can have peace of mind during your recovery period.
Located in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, the establishment makes for a perfect sanctuary to rest and recuperate. It provides 24-hour nursing care for the newborns and the baby nursery is structured with reference to a hospital setting and is equipped with an individual ground floor emergency exit, a two-tiered air ventilation system with HEPA filters, and a separate observation and isolation room for your baby.
Road to Holistic Recovery
Led by a team of highly experienced and board-certified medical professionals, Byond28 strives to provide the best ante- and postnatal care. Weekly paediatrician check-ups on the newborns and 24-hour nursing care will be carried out. Depending on the baby’s feeding needs, syringe and bottle feeding of either breastmilk or formula can be accommodated. All staff nurses are approved by the Malaysian Ministry of Health (KKM).
Byond28 Confinement is a breastfeeding-friendly confinement centre. Its NLC (Malaysian National Lactation Centre)-certified in-house counsellors are ever ready to help new mums to navigate through the journey of breastfeeding. Not forgetting the team of Obstetrics & Gynaecology and nursing staff are also highly trained to steer parents through the challenges of postpartum and baby care.
Experienced specialists Dr Krishna Kumar S/O Hari Krishnan and Dr Kenneth Looi head the O&G and paediatrics respectively. Parents can be confident that mum and baby are in good hands in the first month after birth.
It is comforting to note that Byond28 encourages a healthy parental relationship between mum/dad and baby through its many talks for the new parents. The new parents will learn from hands-on experience about breastfeeding and handling breastmilk, bathing, caring for, massaging, and soothing their baby, among other topics.
A Healthy Start
At Byond28, a new mother’s diet is of utmost priority, the meals are carefully designed to ensure maximum nutrition absorption without compromising on the delicious tastes of Chinese confinement cooking for its residents; signature mouth-watering offerings such as the vinegar pork trotter and yellow wine chicken are available on the menu. Yum!
Daily personalised herbal tonic soups using premium SWS 永生 herbs, bird’s nest, and essence of chicken are provided to hasten the mother’s recovery. The centre also offers a variety of free-flow herbal teas (and in-house lactation cookies!) to ensure hydration and boost breastmilk!
A Joyful Motherhood
As we step into a new season in life and start to juggle more pins now, the art lies in sharing the load. Find out how by making an appointment today with the professionals at Byond28; call +6017 362 8548 or visit their official website, Facebook, and Instagram pages for more updates and fellow mothers’ reviews of their stay with the centre.
Note: Byond28 serves pork-free meals upon request, schedule a meeting to find out more today.
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