Mother Roasting: Post-Partum Mother’s Box

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Mother Roasting:

In most of America we do not have a culture that helps women through the process of women-hood. Menstruation is taboo, and most images we see of birthing involve screaming, crying, and panic. The wonderful process of birth is not treated with the respect, support, or the compassion that is needed. I have created a wonderful warming product and some informational material that I hope will help create a holistic culture to support women and the community, to give insight, confidence, and pleasure to the wonderful miracle of life.

What is Mother Roasting? A worldwide practice of warming moms immediately after giving birth and in the weeks that follow. It is very important to seal the gateways, which have been opened by birth, and to keep wind and cold from entering.

In cultures all over the world mothers and babies have been kept warm through various means. In Malaysia rocks are warmed and placed over the new mother’s shrinking abdomen. In other cultures new fathers light a fire near or under the mother’s bed that is kept burning for weeks. In still others, warming sand, oil, and herbs are heated and applied to the mother.

I have compiled a variety of ways to warm so you can enjoy the warming pleasures of mommy-hood. In the Mommy Mix Gift Set I include a month’s worth of traditional warming methods I have compiled from Western and Asian cultures:  mother’s lactation love & bonding tea; a wonderful Chinese formula to help warm the body and prevent illness and arthritis; warming Ayurvedic sesame-seed oil; warming recipes; a homemade lavender and flax seed heat pack for soothing and warming your body; a belly-wrap to help aid in warming the body and increasing lactation-something for you and your little one; and, a love-bottle (my favorite healing bottle in the world!).

*All products are chosen with the momma’s health and well-being of the environment in mind. Products are Organic and Fair Trade when available. Please allow time for creation of your wonderful gift.

**All Sets are made-to-order. Please confirm order by calling me at (917) 456-6385.

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A Woman’s Body After Childbirth: Bringing a new life into the world is an amazing process, but the time spent in labor and delivery takes a toll on the mother’s body. After giving birth (natural or cesarean), a woman’s body is depleted of blood and Qi, and needs to be nourished by the food she eats and with her environment (with calm, quiet, and warmth). The first few months after birth are crucial in replenishing this blood and Qi.

Postpartum treatment focuses on warming and tonifying the new mom. After childbirth is a prime time for the mom to rebuild and reset her immune system if she takes care to nurture herself along with her new child.

Importance of Postpartum Care: The month after giving birth is called ‘The Golden Month’ in Chinese Medicine, and it is of utmost importance that the mother, along with the newborn, get exceptional care during this time. A well-rested healthy mom can better care for her baby, breastfeed, and is less likely to experience postpartum depression.

It is best that a loved one stays with mom and takes care of the cooking and cleaning responsibilities, as well as changing and washing baby. At this time in life, the new mom is only responsible for feeding the baby and regaining her health. Mom and baby do not leave the house in this time and demanding visitors are not allowed for a month. Baby sleeps next to mom at all times until at least six months old.

Newborns: One of the most important aspects of postpartum care is making sure the newborn soul has time to settle into its new home. Every effort should be made to settle the new soul.

Keep babies at home, away from bright lights and many new faces. It is a time for the baby to settle in to its new home, and for mommy and baby to bond.

Introduce everything (new foods, vaccinations, and people) very slowly and at different stages after the month settling period.

How Chinese Medicine Can Help: Chinese Medicine is extremely helpful in recovery after childbirth, to help a new mom warm her body and heal. The optimal time to start reintroducing heat is five to seven days after birth as long as there is no infection.

  • Gi gong: gentle body movements to help heal the body and move the Qi (life energy)
  • Acupoints: can help a mom recover physically and emotionally. This can be achieved with acupressure or acupuncture.
  • Herbal medicine: helps with abdominal and body pain, building blood, increasing lactation, and improving appetite. Herbal formula: Sheng Hua Tang “The Great Transformation” activates blood circulation, dispels blood stasis, warms the channels, relieves pain.  Designed for postpartum women with cold sensation and pain in the lower abdomen.
  • Moxibustion (moxa): has been used for centuries after childbirth as it warms the moms body. It is very tonifying, builds up the blood, and has the ability to reach into all the acupuncture channels and meridians to remove pain and discomfort.

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Lifestyle Tips

Rest and warm up:

  • Rest up, all day, every day for a whole month. I know this will be hard, but it will not only benefit you it will benefit your baby.
  • Keep your body warm, particularly the feet by always wearing socks or slippers so as not to expose the body to cold which can be damaging your recovering body.
  • Warming oil massages will help your ligaments and tissues realign as well as decrease bleeding and provide relief from body pain. Using warming oils, such as sesame, will give added benefit.

Eat and drink nourishing and warming foods:

  • Eat foods that help with recovery from an illness: chicken soup, warm easy-to-digest soups and stew, blood-building foods like high quality meats, beets, leafy greens, black grapes or juice, tomatoes, cherries, yams, kidney beans, black beans, and best of all: ginger.
  • Warming teas will help maintain your milk supply, aid digestion, and heal sore body. Yogi brand makes a nice Aztec Sweet Chili Tea.

Avoid excessive cold:

  • Avoid cold both in food and environment so the body can recover faster and more effectively which can contribute to improved milk supply.
  • Avoid: cold drinks, greasy/fatty foods, raw foods, ice cream, cold places and drafty conditions, sundresses, baths, and swimming for one month after childbirth.

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Belly Wrapping:

Wrapping the belly, or uterus, is another universal postpartum practice of mother roasting. Besides warming the abdomen and uterus, wrapping the belly also decreases bleeding, speeds weight loss, and reorients a mother with her core muscles.

Belly_warming

To make a wrap: gather a strip of fabric 8 to 12 inches wide and about 5 feet long along with a few pins to secure it. Place the fabric from above your pubic bone to the navel. Wrap the fabric around the waist like a sash. Wrap the fabric alternately using diagonal and straight wraps until you reach the end of your strip. Secure with pins. Keep your belly wrapped for the entire day and night if it’s comfortable. Most women love the feeling of tightness in the area that was so stretched during the previous months. In some cultures, the wrap itself is a sign of motherhood.

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RECIPES

Recipe to warm mom: Dang Gui Chicken Soup

  • 2 pounds hormone-free chicken
  • 3 quarts water
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 1 cup chopped carrot
  • 1 cup chopped celery
  • 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh dill or 2 teaspoons dried dill
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 1/2 cups sliced carrot
  • 1 oz. (30 grams) Dang Gui (Chinese Angelica)

Rinse chicken and add to water in a heavy stockpot. Bring to boil. Add the onion, celery and carrot then cover and reduce heat. Simmer for 1 hour.

Remove chicken from broth and shred meat into small pieces. Strain broth through strainer/sieve and pour back into stockpot. Add sliced carrots, herbs, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat. Simmer for 25 minutes.

Add chicken & Dang Gui. Cook for 10 minutes more. Remove Dang Gui before serving.

Recipe to Warm mom: Chicken Soup From Angela Wu’s “Fertility Wisdom”

  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 3 slices fresh ginger
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 3 Tb rice wine
  • 2 eggs or one serving chicken meat

Bring the broth, ginger, sesame oil, and rice wine to simmer. Add the eggs or chicken, plus enough water to cover. Return to a simmer and poach to desired doneness. Eat the eggs or chicken and drink the broth, discard the ginger.

Recipe to boost lactation: Green Papaya Fish Soup

  • 1 lb fish (tilapia/ kurau)
  • 1 lb green papaya (the flesh of the fruit is white; peeled and seeded)
  • 12 cups of water
  • 4 slices of ginger
  • 6 cloves of garlic
  • 6 red dates
  • 3 stalks of spring onion
  • Salt

Boil the water, then add in the ginger, garlic and spring onion. Cut the papaya into small slices. Discard seeds. Pour boiling water over the green papaya to remove sap, then drain. Add the fish into the boiling pot, followed by the green papaya and dates. Turn down the fire, leave to boil for about an hour to reduce. This should yield about three rice bowls of soup.

Nursing Tea

  • 1/3 part fenugreek seeds
  • 1/3 part fennel seeds
  • 1/3 part anise seeds

Tea is another form of warmth, and one that can help in producing and maintaining momma’s milk supply, aid digestion, and heal a sore body. Make some of the nursing tea in the morning, pour it into a thermos, and sip from it throughout the day.

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For educational purposes only. This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.