I am a strong believer in confinement practise because it is a time for new mothers to restore their strength and good health post childbirth. After all, it would be silly to say no to confinement, a period when you get pampered with so much help and so many varieties of nourishing food.
I lost quite a lot of blood while giving birth, so I extended my confinement for another month. I figured that I needed to take good care of my physical health. If I don’t care for myself, I’ll be in no shape to care for anyone else.
Here are some of the things that I take to nourish my body during confinement:
Daily Meals
I spent my first month in a confinement centre. My daily meals are nutritious and well-balanced. I had mainly chicken and fish, various herbal soups and sweet soup, and a reasonable selection of vegetables. Fruit intake, however, was limited to neutral fruits such as papayas, guavas, apples and grapes.
After I went home, I catered for confinement meal from Phoenix Signature Kitchen. Their meals are more traditional, as the chef is a confinement lady with more than 30 years of experience. I really look forward to my daily meal from them, because most of the dishes were so delicious. Even the soup and red dates water is packed full of flavours and 火候.
Chicken Essence
Whenever my mum is around, she will make me chicken essence from scratch. She double boils one whole chicken to extract the essence, with no water added. It is full of proteins, amino acids and peptides. When mum’s not around, I have to resort to bottled chicken essence because lazy lar…
Bird’s Nest
Same as chicken essence – bird’s nest from scratch when mum is around. Otherwise, I’m happy with these bottled bird’s nest from Golden Bird Nest.
Huiji Waist Tonic
Huiji Waist Tonic was first being introduced to me by a Singaporean friend. She said that she took this everyday during her confinement and how it helps with her recovery. The tonic is made with 100% natural quality herbs such as Cordyceps, Ginseng, Du Zhou, Dang Gui, He Shou Wu, and Da Zao. It is also vegetarian and alcohol-free, suitable for breast-feeding mums.
I started taking my first bottle from third week post delivery because you are suppose to only “bou” after two weeks. Everyday I will take 30ml each time for 2 times. It took me around 25 days to finish two bottles.
In terms of taste, it is mildly sweet (without any added sugar) and I also like the herbal taste. Sometimes I will add the tonic into my soup or steam chicken. After consuming Huiji Waist Tonic, I do feel that it helps with my post-natal recovery in terms of wound healing, boast energy, alleviate aches in waist after delivery and improve appetite. You can get it from AEON or Guardian.
I count myself lucky to be able to nourish and restore my body back to its pre-pregnancy state with all these options. Dear new mummies, remember to take great care of your own emotional wellbeing, as well as physical health in order to care for your little one!
