Can I Shower During the Confinement Period?

Pregnancy has always been a matter that lies between happiness and tolerance. Before giving birth, women have to experience 40 weeks of pregnancy, the pain of delivering and a set of postpartum practices during the confinement period.

Among this process, confinement has always been an important period for mothers to recover across various cultures, which have their own unique taboos and traditional practices. For example, Malay mothers have to do confinement for 44 days. Meanwhile, confinement is usually 30 days for Chinese mothers.

There are many taboos for all confinement, one of the most popular taboos in Chinese confinement practices is that a new mom is not allowed to shower during confinement. Have you ever wondered whether this is only a myth or does it really affect the health of new moms?

Why Are New Moms Not Allowed to Shower During Confinement Period?

In Chinese practice, it is believed that showers and baths would increase the chance of the mother catching a cold and may cause headache and rheumatism in the later years of her life. This taboo came from ancient China when the conditions of keeping the mother warm during bath time were not complete so showers and baths during confinement are forbidden to avoid catching a cold. However, by looking at the same situation in the present time, there’s no scientific reason to not bathe during confinement as we had tons of equipment to keep warm, so catching a cold by shower became less likely during confinement. 

Furthermore, maintaining proper hygiene is even more important in a tropical country like Singapore. As a new mother will be constantly having close contact with her newborn during confinement, she should shower and clean her body to avoid any bacterial infection to her baby during breastfeeding or bonding. Speaking for breastfeeding and maintaining proper hygiene, there are a variety of baby bathing products and breastfeeding products available that are suitable for new mothers and their newborn. For these supplies, you may visit MumChecked for all the best deals.

You May Also Read this : Can mothers take bath and wash hair during postpartum confinement period?

Things to Take Note During Confinement Bath

If you are still worried about catching a cold or facing sequelae in the later years in your life, here are some things you can take note of when you take a bath during the confinement period: shower with warm water, bath with herbs, close all windows in the room before taking a bath, and fully dry your hair immediately after the bath.

• Shower with warm water: New moms are advised to shower with warm water as it’s more comfortable compared to cold bath. Not to mention cold baths may bring cramps for some mothers. You may also shower with hot boiled water for disinfection purposes.
• Herbal baths: Herbal baths contain a variety of natural Chinese herbs that are beneficial in wind expelling during confinement, improving blood circulation and reducing pain of delivery. These confinement herbal baths are included in our confinement herbal bath package. These confinement herbal package Singapore mothers love are packed with herbs that offer healing and calming properties.
• Close all windows in rooms before taking a bath: As in traditional Chinese confinement, wind from outdoor will cause headache and rheumatism. Hence, the action of closing all windows before taking a bath is able to minimize your contact with more wind and decrease the chance of catching a cold.
• Fully dry your hair immediately after taking a bath:  Right after you are out of the shower, dry your hair with a hair dryer. Be sure to let it dry completely before you move on to your next daily routine. Not only will you feel more comfortable moving around with dry hair, it may prevent your chances of catching a cold too, especially when your body is in a fragile state after childbirth.

Common Ingredients Used in Confinement Herbal Bath

A traditional confinement herbal bath consists of the following herbs to help with your physical and mental recovery:

• Fructus Viticis (Chaste Tree Fruit)
• Blumea Balsamifera (Da Feng Ai)
• Lemongrass

More Ways to Speed up Your Postpartum Recovery

In addition to taking confinement herbal baths, you can speed up your postpartum recovery by having traditional herbal soup for confinement in your daily meals. The herbs in these soup often help you to nourish blood, improve vitality and milk supply, increase energy, and calm your mind. To skip the hassle of planning and thinking which types of herbs are suitable for you, you can go for pre-measured, pre-packed confinement herbal soup packages that are curated by certified traditional Chinese medicine practitioners.

All taboos are formed for a reason, and all reasons originally start with the good intention of benefiting the mothers and babies. As a modern mom, you are lucky in the sense that you now have more choices during confinement due to science and technology advancement. Confinement can get challenging, but when you are finally able to recover well and you see your little one growing healthily throughout the first month after birth, it will all be worth it.