Most Chinese parturients have to have a special [ceremony]-confinement within a few weeks after giving birth. Traditional confinement has many taboos, the most common of which are: keeping warm absolutely and covering your whole body even in summer; Can’t go out or even get out of bed, can’t blow; Can’t wash your face, wash your hair, let alone take a bath or brush your teeth; In terms of diet, we should avoid raw and cold food and eat various [supplements]. Even with modern science and technology, new taboos have been developed that cannot watch TV, mobile phones and so on to avoid hurting eyes.
People usually think that the experience handed down from generation to generation must be reasonable. However, the fact is that the traditional is not necessarily reliable and the experience is not necessarily correct. From the perspective of modern medicine, many traditional confinement practices are not only useless to maternal health, but also bring potential harm.
How to scientifically [confinement]?
Are parturients and newborns afraid of the wind?
There was no concept of sterilization in ancient times, Maternity and newborns are prone to bacterial infections, leading to disease and even death. Tetanus is a typical example. Tetanus is caused by tetanus bacilli infection. There are many tetanus bacilli in human intestinal tract. The wound of the parturient during delivery and the umbilical cord of the baby are easy to be contaminated by feces, thus infecting tetanus. The nerve center of tetanus patients is easily stimulated, such as strong light, wind, sound, vibration, drinking water, etc. can induce convulsions.
Due to the lack of medical and microbiological knowledge, the ancients generally attributed many physical discomfort and diseases to [cold], [cold], etc. They believed that tetanus was a cold after the body was damaged, so the response was to prevent people with wounds from external stimuli such as wind blowing.
Newborns infected with tetanus often suffer from the disease within 7 days or so. Therefore, it is also called [seven days wind]. Tetanus’s huge lethality makes people afraid of [wind] and other external stimuli, so parturients and newborns must strictly prevent wind and keep warm. Little imagine tetanus bacillus is an anaerobic bacterium. If the wound is closed for a long time and does not open, it will form a local anoxic environment, which is more conducive to the reproduction of germs.
Closed doors and windows in the home, sultry indoor and dirty air are also conducive to the growth and reproduction of bacteria, but not conducive to the wound healing of parturient. In summer, parturients and babies are tightly wrapped, which also increases the risk of heatstroke.
In the United States, the parturient when discharged from hospital is wearing the same as ordinary people. If it is hot summer, the parturient also wears short sleeves, skirts, and bare feet wear slippers, as usual open windows for ventilation and use air conditioning. Usually within a few days after discharge (no more than a week), the parturient and the baby will go to see a child doctor, and going out is even more essential.
Can’t parturients touch water?
Because people are more sick in winter or in cold conditions, In addition, the previous water quality was not clean enough and there was no shower condition. As well as the aforementioned tetanus patients will be stimulated by drinking water to cause convulsions, The ancients who lacked relevant knowledge thought that the patient was also caused by catching cold and touching water (especially cold water), thus giving rise to the taboo that the parturient could not wash his face, wash his hair, bathe and brush his teeth, and even the absurd saying that there was pain where he washed. In fact, these practices are just taken for granted, and the key lies in disinfection measures and sanitary conditions.
In developed countries, Hospital wards are usually provided with showers, A few hours after delivery, the doctor will urge the parturient to take a shower. Tears and lateral vaginal incisions during delivery do not affect bathing. Even the second day of caesarean section can also take a bath. In addition to taking a shower, the parturient also needs to wash the vulva several times a day to promote the discharge of lochia and the recovery of the birth canal. The traditional confinement does not allow the rules to touch water are actually very unscientific and unhygienic, which is not only detrimental to the recovery of the parturient’s body, but also poses a threat to the health of the baby.
Can’t the parturient get out of bed and move?
Maternity exerts a lot of energy during childbirth, Often accompanied by blood loss, Postpartum does require rest, But rest does not mean rest in bed. In fact, Proper activities are more conducive to the postpartum recovery of the parturient. Because the blood is in a hypercoagulable state before and after childbirth (this stress reaction can reduce blood loss during childbirth), Long-term bed rest and inactivity of lower limbs are easy to form thrombus, which may even bring life danger if it migrates to heart, lung and other parts with blood. In the past farming society, women often had to take part in a lot of manual work in addition to taking on all the housework, and even if they were ill, they seldom had a rest. In this case, giving the parturient the opportunity to stay in bed has certain positive significance. The situation is different now. In maternity hospitals in the United States, doctors or nurses will come to urge the parturient to get out of bed a few hours after delivery.
Is the postpartum diet taboo reasonable?
The traditional bad habit of confinement is the most complicated about diet. On the one hand, many daily foods such as vegetables and fruits are not allowed to eat or even water is not allowed to drink. On the other hand, you should eat some strange things, such as rice drinks, brown sugar boiled eggs, biochemical soup, etc. Some enlightened doctors will tell you that water is of course to be drunk, but warm boiled water should be drunk instead of cold water. Vegetables and fruits are to be eaten, but don’t eat scallion, garlic, chili and other irritating foods. In fact, warm water can be drunk, cold water and even ice water can be drunk. In American hospitals, Just after giving birth, the nurse will hand over a glass of ice water or ice cream. Spicy and irritating food may affect the taste of milk, but as long as the baby can accept it, you can also eat it. Lactating parturients should not eat more foods that produce gas, including soybeans, garlic, broccoli and so on. The ingredients of these foods will enter milk, causing children to swell their stomachs.
Breastfeeding women should be careful not to drink alcohol and drink less coffee and tea. In addition, those strange monthly meals and medicated diets, as well as some postpartum [tonic], need to be taboo, because the ingredients and efficacy in them have not been proved, and conventional food is the safest food.
Is there really such a thing as lunar disease?
[Lunar disease] is a folk saying in our country, It is said that if you don’t pay attention during the month, you will drop some root causes. Specific symptoms include lumbago and leg pain, arthralgia, headache, toothache, etc. There is even the exotic theory of “confinement disease and confinement”. Some obstetricians and gynecologists in regular hospitals also agree with the traditional confinement custom, but their understanding also comes from the folk, because there is no concept of confinement disease in regular medical textbooks.
As one grows older, People are also more and more likely to suffer from various chronic diseases. These diseases or discomforts are often interpreted as the result of inattention from confinement. In fact, no matter how strict confinement is, Chronic diseases are still possible in old age, and there is no statistical data showing the correlation between confinement and certain diseases. The so-called confinement disease is just an example of people having a preconceived view and then looking for support for their views. This phenomenon is called “confirmation bias” in psychology, which is a very unscientific but very common attitude.
Do foreigners have confinement?
There are some traditional practices about postpartum care all over the world, let’s just call them “confinement”. Different countries have the same way of confinement. For example, most of them require bed rest and warmth, which should be caused by the low level of life and cognition in the past. However, the food that confinement eats often varies greatly, which is obviously caused by the diversity of diet in different regions. Even in China, the customs of confinement vary from region to region. The diversity of confinement clearly shows that this is actually a cultural phenomenon and has nothing to do with science.
If we compare the phenomenon of confinement with the degree of development of the country, we will find that the more developed the country, the less the phenomenon of confinement exists. Women in Western Europe, North America and Japan basically do not have confinement after delivery. South Korea and Taiwan, which are both developed and traditional places, have basically abandoned the harmful confinement customs, but have retained many irrelevant stresses. Mainland China is the hardest hit by confinement. Not only is there no evidence that confinement is positively related to women’s health and longevity, on the contrary, women in Europe, America and Japan who do not have confinement have the best health and the longest life in the world.
Is the constitution of the Chinese special?
When it comes to women in Europe and the United States who do not have confinement after giving birth, Someone will always say, Their physique is different from that of the Chinese, Foreign women are stronger. There are some physiological differences between different races, However, these differences must be examined scientifically to make sense. It is unreliable to use living customs as a standard. For example, white people’s skin is more sensitive to ultraviolet rays and is more prone to skin cancer. From a scientific point of view, white people should be protected from the sun most. However, the reality is that white people love to bask in the sun most. If you judge from living customs, you will come to the wrong conclusion that white people should bask in the sun most.
There has never been any statement in medical textbooks that yellow people need special postpartum care. What’s more, Japanese and Chinese belong to yellow people, and many East Asians live in Europe and the United States. Don’t they live well without confinement? Others say that the Chinese eat more meat in the United States and become angry, so they are not afraid of the cold. These are even more nonsense. There are also many vegetarians in Europe and the United States. Japanese eat more seafood. According to the Chinese folk saying, is it not that the cold is heavier? Besides, the customs of confinement vary from place to place in China. Should a woman from Gansu marry and give birth to a child in Fujian and follow the customs of what?
Is there any scientific research on confinement?
As mentioned earlier, there is no medical dispute about the disadvantages of traditional confinement, but in view of the fact that some (developing) countries still retain the custom of confinement, there are also some studies in this area. These studies, without exception, show that traditional confinement is harmful and useless, which deserves the vigilance of Chinese maternal and child medical workers and newborn families.
In short, the traditional confinement is an unscientific bad habit. For the sake of the health of parturients and infants, these bad habits should be swept into the garbage heap of history as soon as possible.
How to scientifically [confinement]
Postpartum Nursing of Natural Delivery
Every day should be appropriate activities according to their own situation; Natural labor is often accompanied by vaginal tear or lateral vaginal incision. In order to relieve the pain of the wound, ice bags can be used to compress with clean sanitary napkins. In order to reduce stabbing pain during urination, rinse vulva with warm water while urinating. Hold the wound tightly with a clean absorbent pad when defecating. Keep the wound clean and flush the vaginal opening and anus with a washing bottle after each defecation and urination. Be careful when sitting down, it will be more comfortable to sit on the pillow or ring pillow. Brush your teeth every day, keep your body clean, and take a regular shower if conditions permit.
Nursing care after caesarean section
Relax and rest as much as possible, but daily activities are also essential. Appropriate activities are conducive to recovery after surgery. Put the things you and your baby need in a place that is easy to reach. In the first few weeks, don’t carry or carry anything heavier than a baby. Pay attention to the posture of standing and walking; Cover the vicinity of abdominal wounds when coughing, sneezing and laughing; If necessary, ibuprofen or paracetamol can be taken to relieve pain. These drugs are safe for breast-feeding women. Drink enough water (including milk, soup, etc.), drink more water on the one hand to supplement the water lost in production and lactation, on the other hand to prevent constipation; Pay attention to multiple urination to reduce the risk of urinary tract infection; Brush your teeth every day, keep your body clean, and take a regular shower if conditions permit.
Diet
The diet of parturients is not much different from the healthy diet we advocate at ordinary times. On this basis, parturients can eat more fish, lean meat, milk and nuts to ensure the intake of high-quality protein and essential fatty acids. Ensure to drink enough water; Continue to eat vitamins and essential fatty acids during pregnancy. Don’t avoid foods that are called raw, cold and spicy. Don’t drink alcohol (and don’t smoke), drink less coffee and tea and caffeinated beverages (such as cola, cocoa and Red Bull), and try to avoid desserts, fast food and sugary soft drinks.
Dwelling and Dressing
If conditions permit, the indoor temperature should be kept at 20-26 C, which is the temperature that the human body feels comfortable. It is possible to use air conditioners, electric fans and open windows for ventilation. Wear it to make the parturient feel comfortable and do not wear more deliberately. Babies should wear one more layer than adults, but do not wear too much.
Computers and cell phones
Pregnant women can use computers and mobile phones, and their radiation is not enough to cause harm. It is not a healthy lifestyle for ordinary people to watch computers and mobile phones for a long time, and parturients should pay more attention to their fatigue. However, the so-called inability to use computers or mobile phones during the month is groundless.