// Chinese Confinement Foods

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One of the painful and scariest thing after giving birth is to pass motion.  Bowel movement will cause some pain to the stitching as we need to exert and it will slightly hurts the episiotomy.  Therefore, it is very important to avoid getting constipated.

We can easily get constipation because of the foods we ate and the lack of liquid we drink.  The other reason is when we did not move enough.

So, remember to :

1) Drink a lot of liquids;

2) Move a lot, i.e. walk around your hospital wards and do the same at home;

3) Eat lots of fibrous foods;

Chinese moms have been given the wrong diet which usually consists of a lot of meats and rice.  These are the sure fire way to get constipation.

Here are my recommended solution to avoid constipation :

1) Prune juice.  Get a bottle and bring along to the hospital.  Mix it with warm water and drink it every morning and at every meal.

2) Prunes.  It is nice to snack on them for the extra fibres

3) Oats - Great for producing more breastmilk, healthy and most of all, gives bulk to your stools

4) Vegetables and fruits.

5) Vegetarian soy products.  These may give you some wind but taken with ginger, it is a good fibrous alternatives to meat.

Most moms are not allowed to take banana.  But I must mention that if you take banana with rice, it will cause you severe constipation.  Banana can cause constipation instead of helping when taken with the wrong type of foods.  Note that.

Usually, your doctor will give you some laxatives to help you along.  However, avoid taking them after a few days because you do not want to become dependent on it.  So, cut down on the amount and eventually stay off laxatives.  Remember, if you are constipated and cannot pass motion, ask your doctor for help and don’t suffer in silent.

The food to avoid when pregnant is soy products. Yet, many pregnant moms go out of their way to consume more soya bean drink, eat soya bean cakes and totally adore soy products because they were told that soy will give their babies fair and beautiful complexion.

As with everything, one shouldn’t consume too much of anything. Therefore, soya bean is not good for pregnant mothers if they consume too much. If you are expecting a baby boy, you may even work against his favour. You may bring up a boy with a lot of female features.

The humble soya bean may play a role in the problem of male infertility, a team of researchers in Belfast has found.

Soya contains the female hormone oestrogen and too much of it is being linked to poor quality sperm.

Dr Lorraine Anderson says she found the link in research carried out at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast.

“What many men do not realise is that soya is not just consumed by vegetarians, it is contained in a lot of everyday processed foods.

The director of reproductive medicine at Queen’s University, Belfast, Dr Sheena Lewis, said the findings were clear.

“What we have shown is that if men are consuming large amounts of soya products, for example, there is a negative relationship between that and the quality of their sperm.

Dr Anderson said if boys eat a lot of soya when they are growing up, it can damage their reproductive capability.

“The key time for that is when a male foetus is developing and in the early toddler years and up to puberty.

“All through that period, if you alter the oestrogen that a man is exposed to, you can not only affect their sperm quality but affect the development of their reproductive tract, so that you can get an increase in structural abnormalities like undescended testes and you can also get other problems later in life, such as testicular cancer.”

Dr Anderson recently came runner-up in a prestigious competition for her work on the link between male fertility and oestrogen in the diet.

(the full story can be found from BBC News but I have pasted it over here in case the link is not working in future. The link to the article : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/3513607.stm)

So, moms, as always, moderation is the key.

Century eggs are one of those things that many find as delicacy while others find revolting. However, many women, including me find it irresistible during pregnancy. The urge to eat it is so great and yet, I wonder if it is safe? Was it made with lots of chemicals? Since it is so black, is it toxic? Did they say it is made by soaking the eggs in horse urine?

Well, here’s how century egg is made :

preserving duck, chicken or quail eggs in mixture of clay, ash, salt, lime, and rice straw for several weeks to several months

After the process is completed, the yolk becomes a dark green, cream-like substance with a strong odor of sulfur and ammonia, while the white becomes a dark brown, transparent jelly with little flavor or taste.

The transforming agent in century egg is its alkaline material, which gradually raises the pH of egg from around 9 to 12 or more. This chemical process causes an “inorganic version” of fermentation, which breaks down some of the complex, flavorless proteins and fats into simpler, flavorful ones.

I got the above from Wikipedia.

In general, I do eat one or two slices when it is available. Like every thing, do not take anything in excess. Note also that alkaline stuffs in foods may cause bleeding so stay away during your period or post-natal period. Even the yellow noodles can cause bleeding because I suppose the alkaline content in them do make the blood thinner or something. I have personally experience it so I can tell you to avoid drinking Chinese tea, eating yellow noodles or anything with karn sui (alkaline water) and that includes century eggs.

But one or two slices with the preserve ginger will not do you harm, I guess.

Tumeric or kunyit is a herb much favoured for its healing properties. Tumeric is recognised as one of the ingredients in many health supplements. Therefore, those of us who live in the Asia continent is lucky that we can get fresh tumeric or kunyit easily. Otherwise, there are powder tumeric which is convenient.

Here is one recipe for Chinese confinement food for tumeric chicken which you can prepare in big batches and store the seasoned meats in smaller, single serving portion.

Pound the below in large quantity, season chicken (approximately 2 kg of meats or chicken). Divide into smaller portion and freeze. You can conveniently take a single portion out, thaw and either fry it or grill in oven.

Here are the ingredients:Big lump (size of your palm) of kunyit (tumeric) pounded with 4 stalks of serai (lemongrass), 15 pepercorns and 10 shallots. Season the chicken with this paste, add some sugar and salt for taste.

Chinese confinement practices are one of those things that our moms and grandmas force it down our throats.  I am the rebellious one who often argued with my mom because I hate all the restrictions.  Things include :

1) No bathing for 12 days after birth

2) No exposing ourselves and we must wrapped ourselves including wear socks

3) No drinking of water except soups and special rice tea and dates tea

4) No climbing stairs

5) No vegetables and most foods

So, for the first two babies, it was  a long struggle with my mom.  Worst is my mom-in-law and meddling  sis-in-laws.  Of course, I hardly follow any of the above except what I enjoy.  When my mom died, it was total freedom.  When I had my fifth baby, I even bathed in the hospital, 3 days after my birth.  Woo hoo!  Total freedom.

Do I suffer any of those things they predicted?  None?  Because I stick to :

1) Don’t get any chills

2) Eat warm foods and those which expels wind

3) Don’t exert ourselves

4) Some foods like alcohol and certain vegetables can cause our blood thinner and are diuretic, so avoid those.

5) Remind myself that my grandma came from China where the climate is sub-zero during winter and hence, she could go for weeks without bathing.

So, should we follow the Chinese Confinement practices?  Follow your instinct and your own body signals.  That’s the best advice I can give.  I have five births and I don’t get anything that gives me aches or pains because I listen to my body capability.

Many parents are led to to believe that routine iron supplementation is required for breastfed babies once they reach 6 months of age. Some studies, however, advocate that iron supplementation is unnecessary, unless signs of iron-deficiency anemia are present.

Iron plays an important role in the development of a baby’s brain and a lack of iron can significantly affect a baby’s capability to learn in later life. Iron is also required by the body to make hemoglobin, which supplies oxygen — through the blood — to the cells of the body . In addition, iron gives red blood cells their color, which is why a lack of iron is often suspected when someone appears particularly pale.

Babies are born with stores of iron, obtained from their moms during pregnancy. For full term babies, these stores will usually last for at least the first 6 months of life. Some babies, however, are born with inadequate iron stores and have an increased risk of developing iron-deficiency anemia. These include

1. Premature babies. Babies obtain the majority of their iron stores from their moms during the final months of pregnancy. This means that babies born prematurely might be more apt to have lower stores of iron at birth.

2. Low birthweight babies (generally below 6.5lb). This applies whether or not the pregnancy was full term.

3. Babies born to mothers with poorly controlled diabetes.

At some point, these babies might require iron supplementation, on medical advice.

However, it is the ROUTINE supplementation of full term, healthy, breastfed infants at 6 months that many experts are calling into question.

Whilst you might hear that the iron levels in breastmilk are low, a fact very often overlooked is that iron from breastmilk is extremely well absorbed, at a rate of 49 percent of the available iron. This is because breastmilk contains lactoferrin and transferrin, two specialized proteins that ensure efficient delivery of iron from the milk to your baby. These proteins also prevent the growth of “unfriendly” bacteria, such as E. Coli, by ensuring that no iron is made available to them.

In addition, breastmilk contains high levels of vitamin C and lactose, both of which assist with efficient iron absorption.

For these reasons, many experts now feel that an exclusively breast fed baby receives adequate iron to keep his levels within the normal range BEYOND the first six months of life. It is, of course, a sensible precaution to have your baby’s iron levels tested, to ensure that no deficiency is present.

Once iron supplements, solid foods or mixed feeding (ie breastmilk plus iron-fortified formula) are introduced to a baby, the amount of iron available to him from breastmilk actually reduces. This is because the specialized breast milk proteins can become saturated by the extra iron he is receiving. They then become less efficient in their job of delivering iron to the baby.

Therefore, it is very important to make sure that, when your baby is eating solid foods on a regular basis, his diet contains plenty of iron rich foods.

These will compensate for the reduction in the amount of iron he is receiving from breastmilk. Good sources of iron include

meat
peas
dark green vegetables
beans
tofu
avocado
yam
barley
whole wheat cereal
broccoli
blackstrap molasses
amaranth
quinoa
millet

It is useful to serve foods containing vitamin C along with iron rich foods, as this combination aids iron absorption . Cooking in cast iron pans is also helpful, as the acids in some foods will “pull” the iron from the pan.

It is important to remember that a nursing mom cannot increase the iron levels in her breastmilk by increasing her own iron intake.

Even our elderly folks like our mothers, grandmothers and other old aunties know that eating fish will benefits us.  When I was pregnant, my mom bought me expensive white fishes like the pomfret, cod fish, salmon, threadfin and other types of fishes and made sure I ate them.  Usually, she steamed them for me.

Well, the research datas are all out there :

According to a current study which was published in the ‘Archives of Disease in Childhood’ in 2006, babies born to women who took fish oil supplements during the last 4 months of pregnancy had superior hand to eye coordination, were superior speakers and could understand more at the age of two and a half, than babies born to mothers who were given olive oil instead.

 Researchers gave half of the women in the trial 4gr of fish oil supplements on a daily basis from twenty weeks of pregnancy and these supplements contained a combination of both Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). The remainder of the women were given 4gr of Olive Oil. Development checks were carried out on a total of 72 of the babies when they had reached the age of two and a half years.

But moms-to-be, do not overeat and stay away from the deep sea fishes like the tuna and others which may have some toxin due to their exposures.  As always, I will eat moderately and eat only what my doctor feels is ok for me.  So, don’t binge on supplements and fishes with the hope of getting smarter babies.  Instead, eat healthily from all groups of foods.

During pregnancy, a woman may feel bloated and feel like there is a lot of gas in the tummy. This is due to the softening of our body ligaments and etc to make way for the baby’s growth. To expel those gas from the stomach, one soothing food we can take is ginger.

You can crush some ginger and steep it in your tea. Otherwise, I love to make this ginger, brown sugar, pandan and sweet potato soup. A recipe for sweet potato dessert can be found here.

During post-natal period, I also love to have brown sugar and ginger as it gives me a calming effect. But ask your mother or grandma if it is fine for you, ok?

Heredity is one of the major factors in determining whether a child has an allergy. Tendency of a child towards allergy could be while being breastfed, during the mother’s pregnancy and while being introduced to foods. One can find out how allergies may be the cause of a child’s health problems.

Preventive measures during pregnancy:

Breastfeeding - Feeding babies with solid foods during their first six months of life could increase their risk of developing allergies. is The best way to prevent allergies later in childhood is to breastfeed them during the first six months.

Avoid unnecessary medicines - Unless and until it is absolutely necessary, a pregnant women should not risk taking any allergy medications. DO not take anything without your doctor’s permission.

Avoid herbs during pregnancy - Pregnant must avoid several herbs as they tend to cause skin allergies.

Special Formula May Reduce Allergies in Infants - By means of some of the same ingredients that are found in breast milk scientists have developed a new formula. This formula helps in preventing allergies in infants. The infants who are at high risk for developing the allergic condition are helped through this formula by reducing their eczema.

Over breastfeeding invite allergies:

A study on 200 mothers for a period of 20-years at the Helsinki Skin and Allergy Hospital in Finland, indicates that breastfeeding a child for nine months can increase the food sensitivity and the risk of allergies.

Peanuts during pregnancy - Peanuts are believed to cause allergies. They are avoided during pregnancy and lactation.

Avoid tobacco - Avoid tobacco and its products at the time of pregnancy.

Physical Exercise - Consult your doctor whether its OK to do some mild exercise as it has been observed that exercise at the later part of pregnancy can cause allergic reactions.

I hope you will find this information helpful. Needless to say, always consult your doctor before following these advices.

Justin Foss is the proud owner of the site http://www.mymedicenter.com where he spends most of his time to make better. You can get more articles on at http://www.mymedicenter.com/allergies.

Sometimes, our Chinese older folks make like the post natal period is a very complicated issue and causes a lot of new mothers to worry unnecessary. Although there are many basis for the do’s and don’ts, being the educated, modern moms, one should not just believe without some common sense.

Sometimes, what they suggested are extremely bad for health and dangerous to the new mothers and newborns. So, always rely on your doctors. For example, there are herbs and alcohol which can cause severe bleeding and if given to a woman who just delivered a baby, she may even go into shock due to sudden bleeding. Remember that the womb may not be fully healed and hence, do not take any herbs during that period. Our body needs nourishments from basic food stuffs such as those that have lots of fibres (oat is best), protein and maybe a bit of ginger to expel the gasses.

This black fungus with chicken and ginger is a very nice dish. You may add some DOM or brandy when your post-partum bleeding is not fresh blood anymore. A little of alcohol added into the cooking is ok, provided it is cooked for a while so that the alcohol is evaporated in the cooking. Otherwise, you may pass on the alcohol to your baby through the breastmilk.

To prepare :

Soak the thick black, fungus till soft. (it is said that the black fungus acts as a blood cleanser)

Chop chicken into tiny pieces. (You may want to try kampung chicken for the post-partum period.)

Huge piece of ginger, slice and cut finely

Sesame oil

Some alcohol like DOM or brandy (if preferred)

Dark soya sauce, light soya sauce and a bit of sugar and pepper

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Heat sesame oil, stir fry ginger till fragrant, add in the chicken. Add some water and the black fungus plus the soya sauce. Simmer till the gravy thickens.