Chinese people, both in the south and the north, have the tradition of “sitting on the moon”. Although the specific customs vary from region to region, they basically require the mother not to bathe and wash her hair, not to blow, to wrap up tightly, and to eat a lot of nutritious food. With the improvement of the quality of life, it is difficult for young people to accept “not bathing or washing hair in January, not going out in January”, and the opening of the Internet and other media information, reports about foreign women starting to go out to work or shopping immediately after giving birth have appeared in the press from time to time, and many young people have started to resist “sitting for the month”. Sitting on the moon”.
The physiological characteristics of a woman’s body after giving birth
1.Loss of blood
Whether it is a normal birth or a cesarean birth, there will be bleeding during the birth. The amount of bleeding in normal delivery is at least 100-200ml, and if vaginal delivery is needed, the amount of bleeding will increase by another 100-200ml; the amount of bleeding in cesarean delivery is about 200-300ml; if combined with problems such as retained placenta or poor contraction of the uterus, the amount of bleeding may be more, and the amount of bleeding in vaginal delivery exceeds 500ml or the amount of bleeding in cesarean delivery exceeds 1000ml, which is clinically known as postpartum bleeding.
2.Pelvic floor muscles
The female pelvic organs (uterus, bladder, ureter, rectum, etc.) need pelvic floor muscles and ligaments to maintain in normal position. Since late pregnancy, women’s muscles start to relax due to changes in hormone levels, and the pelvic floor muscles are further damaged by the vaginal delivery process, and the pelvic floor muscles are damaged or even ruptured, so women’s pelvic floor muscles need to gradually recover after vaginal delivery. However, many women lack correct exercise after delivery, the damage to pelvic floor muscles and ligaments is difficult to recover, and the pelvic organs cannot be maintained in normal position and function, resulting in urine leakage, urinary incontinence, uterine prolapse, rectal prolapse, etc., which seriously affects women’s quality of life.
3.Change of uterus
It takes 6 weeks for the uterus to gradually recover to the non-pregnant state after delivery. The process of gradual shrinkage of the uterus is the process of continuous shrinkage of the uterine body muscle fibers and endometrial regeneration and repair. The repair of the endometrium is manifested by the vaginal discharge of blood and malodex.
4.Lactation
The hormone level changes, the breast begins to lactate, and the breast stimulation caused by the baby sucking during the lactation period causes the prolactin level to secrete in pulses. If the mother does not breastfeed, menstruation will resume around 6-10 weeks after delivery, and ovulation will resume around 10 weeks after delivery; if she insists on breastfeeding, the secretion of prolactin can inhibit ovulation and delay the onset of menstruation. So is it possible to breastfeed without contraception? Many mothers have ovulated before their first menstrual period, so breastfeeding mothers may still be able to conceive.
5. Changes in other body systems
Women’s gastrointestinal motility and muscle tone are weakened during pregnancy, and it takes 1-2 weeks to gradually recover after delivery. During the puerperium, the activity is reduced and the intestinal peristalsis is weakened, coupled with the relaxation of the abdominal muscle and pelvic floor muscle, it is easy to constipation.
Women retain more water in their bodies during pregnancy, and the amount of urine increases in the first week after delivery, commonly known as puerperal sweating.
The pigmentation in the lower midline of the abdomen during pregnancy gradually fades during the puerperium. During pregnancy, due to the influence of the enlarged uterus, the tension of the abdominal wall increases and some of the abdominal skin elastic fibers break, which is manifested as stretch marks.
How to do “menstruation”?
The “menstrual period”, as it is commonly known in China, is basically the time when women’s bodies recover from various functions. In view of the above-mentioned postpartum physical changes, how should women pay attention to their bodies and lives after giving birth? Is there any scientific basis for some customs of “menstruation” and do they need to be observed? Here I will tell you slowly.
1.Can I take a bath and wash my hair and blow the air conditioner?
There is no scientific basis for the statement “you can’t take a bath and wash your hair after giving birth, and you can’t blow the air conditioner in the summer”, and you will get heat stroke from the heat. Bathing and washing the hair itself will not cause maternal illness, and will not cause headaches. But the mother experienced childbirth and bleeding during childbirth, the body is relatively tired and weak, poor body resistance, bathing and washing hair if you do not pay attention to keep warm, easy to cause a cold and other discomfort.
In the old society, due to the backward level of social development, there is no heating supply in winter in the north, most people’s nutrition is relatively poor, the medical level is backward, most people deliver at home, and various birth injuries occur more often. So the postpartum maternal resistance is worse, the living conditions are difficult, coupled with nutrition can not keep up, so the bath and wash hair and blowing wind after the maternal more likely to catch a cold and illness.
3.Does the diet have to be a big tonic?
The northern maternity brown sugar millet and egg porridge after childbirth, help digestion, eggs to supplement nutrition; the southern sauce and vinegar pig’s feet, Hakka wine are good digestion, supplemental protein food. Whether it is brown sugar, soy sauce and vinegar, or maiden wine, they all have the effect of activating blood and promoting the discharge of blood in the uterine cavity, while excessive consumption is not conducive to endometrial wound repair.
Compared to the general population, mothers have weakened gastrointestinal dynamics, blood loss, and the special characteristics of breastfeeding, so it is recommended to increase the amount of high-protein foods in the diet and to drink more soups to increase milk secretion after childbirth. However, do not consume too much brown sugar, soy sauce and vinegar, maiden wine, gum and other blood-boosting foods until the bloody malodex is clean.
4.Can I do physical activities?
After vaginal delivery, the pelvic floor muscles and ligaments are loose and even partially ruptured, so it is difficult to return to the pre-pregnancy state. Nowadays, most hospitals have postpartum rehabilitation clinics and corresponding examinations, and also have instruments to assist in exercising to restore the pelvic floor function. If you have the conditions, it is recommended to undergo pelvic floor rehabilitation examination and treatment after delivery. If you don’t have time and conditions, you can do more anal reduction exercises on your own, which are simple and convenient and can exercise the pelvic floor muscles, watching TV, waiting for the bus, and resting in bed before going to bed.
Before the pelvic floor muscles and ligament function recovery, try to avoid heavy physical activities and exercises that increase abdominal pressure, general walking and other daily activities can be carried out.
5.Does the belly band work?
I have come across many women who see their abdominal wall flabby and flabby after giving birth, so they use belts to bind their abdomen, stuffing the flesh inside the belly band to achieve a superficially flat abdomen. What actually happens? The flaccid is still flaccid and the flab is still flabby. The return of the abdominal wall requires physical exercise after the puerperium, and there are many postnatal exercises to choose from.
In conclusion, women who experience “October pregnancy and delivery” have obvious effects on all aspects of the body, and need to recover both physically and psychologically after giving birth, strengthening nutrition, taking more rest, keeping warm, and avoiding heavy physical activity during the puerperium are all necessary. The origin of the traditional “sitting on the moon” is also because the maternal body is weak after childbirth, but with the development of science and social progress, many of the customs that needed attention before slowly became bad habits, as long as you understand the changes in the body after childbirth, pay attention to rest and strengthen nutrition and moderate exercise, can be restored to the workplace hot mom.