Ayurvedic Post Delivery CareJanuary 08, 2019

As an ancient science, Ayurveda has an entire branch of medicine devoted to women’s health, especially post pregnancy ayurveda care for mother and new born.

Entering motherhood is a transition like no other. It is becoming a full-time caretaker and nurturer. But getting to the point where the new mother is physically, emotionally, and mentally whole again after the tremendous task of giving birth is quite a process that takes much time and work. In Ayurveda, the time of birth and the days after are a sacred time—a time of rest, care and love. This event is a good reminder that childbirth (and the pregnancy) is a significant event for the body and mind. How a new mother spends the weeks directly after the child arrives lays the foundation for how the family functions for many years to come. Ayurvedic postpartum care identifies the first forty-two days after childbirth as a period of rest, rejuvenation, and bonding. Few mothers in modern culture have the time or support to implement this important practice. What used to be a practice within the family females, is now done by trained after delivery care maids.  With so much change in the lives of new parents, taking this step seems inevitable.

Ayurveda emphasizes on completely resting for 6 weeks to recover from child birth. A new mother will be flooded with conflicting emotions while nurturing the little one, depriving herself of required rest and is in dire need of support, physically and emotionally. Ayurveda pregnancy care asks for this to avoid any postpartum stress. This after delivery period is considered as a highly sensitive period and all the post-partum care systems as per the Indian culture, place a great emphasis on encouraging fast healing, boosting immunity, and improving the production of milk. According to Ayurveda good health depends up on the balance of three forces – vatha, pitha and kapha. Imbalance of one of them causes ill health. Delivery related problems are due to the vadha dosha. This imbalance is treated in Ayurveda through rest, massages, food and herbal preparations. The mother is full of the mobile, light, dry, and cold qualities after the loss of energy and blood and fluids, the now empty space that was occupied by the baby. For this reason Ayurveda prescribes confinement. Practically too, exposing the weak mother’s body in public spaces and germs, weakening her further.

Diet during confinement period in Ayurveda is designed in such a way to balance the vadha dosha. The digestive system is also very sensitive during this period so Ayurveda insists of start with eating easily digestible food and gradually go back to regular diet towards the end of confinement period.

Warm, fresh and oily food that tastes sweet like honey, rice, fresh fruits or even yam, sour and salty are focused.Cold foods are avoided as they are hard to digest and will draw water from the body causing constipation and promote gas formation. Salads are also not recommended in Ayurveda during confinement period as they create gas. Breakfast and dinner should be light but the lunch should be heavy.

The next step is an after delivery massage. If you have had a normal delivery, then you can start oil massage within the first 5 days. If you have had a C-section, then you need to give the wound some time to heal before you start the massage – generally after 14 days. Whatever your method of delivery, ask your doctor before starting the massage. This is a relaxing and soothing 90 minutes repetitive massage that should be done daily during the confinement period. This helps the body to move out the stored waste from the tissues and muscles. This repeated massage also increases lactation and enhances the peace of mind. Usually, dhanvantharam kuzhambu is used for body massage and coconut oil is used for head massage. Ideally you need to continue the massage routine for first 40 days to get maximum benefits. The massage is followed by a special bath. Bath during the confinement period is called vedu bath in Ayurveda. After a C-section veth bath should be taken only after removing the stitches. Water is boiled with herbal leaves like puli ela (tamarind leaves), poovarasu (birch tree), kurumulakila (black pepper leaves), vatham kolli ela (Black vasa or black Malabar nut). Instead of soap, cherupayar(Green gram) powder is used for body and thali(taken by grinding the leaves of hibiscus) is used instead of shampoo.

Belly binding is the next step required in Ayurveda after delivery care. Ayurveda has a special belly wrapping technique. A long piece of fine cotton cloth is wrapped around the abdomen a few times and pulled snug without tightening too much (to make sure you can sit and breathe comfortably). This helps to strengthen the back and restore muscle and organs back to original position.

Along with this the Ayurveda doctors will recommend Kashayams, lehyams and arishtams will be given to the mother to rebuilt the resistance power, increasing the lactation, and rejuvenate the body after delivery.

For more information, call Mywomb Care Services and subscribe to our Ayurveda package.