Chinese Postpartum Care: 3- Recommended Menu 3

3rd Week (Day 15 ~ 21)

Meal:  Chicken in sesame oil (麻油雞), Chicken w/chestnut(栗子雞), Chicken w/dang-gui astragalus soup (當歸黃耆雞), Chicken w/lotus seeds & poria soup (茯苓連子雞), Pig tripe w/ spare ribs stew (豬肚燉排骨), Mullet in sesame oil(麻油烏魚), Lamb w/prepared rehmanniae root soup(熟地羊肉湯), Shrimp in sesame oil (麻油蝦)
Black-boned chicken in sesame oil (麻油烏骨雞)- helps the body recuperate, restores vigor
Main ingredients: black sesame oil, old ginger, (taiwan) rice wine, black-boned chicken

Herbals: [生津安神 + 排除脹氣 + 補中益氣] for postpartum care herbal formula
Main ingredients: Radix Rehmanniae Preparata or Prepared rehmannia root(熟地), Radix Achyranthis Bidentatae or achyranthes root(淮七), Ligustici Wa Llichi Rhizoma(川芎), Zizyphi Sativae Fructus or red dates(大棗), Lycii Fructus(枸杞)

To Induce Lactation: Yellow bean papaya w/carp soup (黃豆木瓜鯽魚湯), Stewed Pork feet w/peanuts & mushrooms (香菇花生燉豬腳), lactation herbals

Drinks: Refreshing herbal drink

Postpartum Care: Chinese Style, intro.

I tried to surf the net for informations about chinese postpartum care and found limited resources in english.  And, they mostly introduced why the chinese (race) practice this kind of postpartum care.  The more "beefy" information such as do's & don'ts, how-to, what-to-eat, etc., were mostly in blogs that contain chinese characters.  Hence, I've thought of researching and sharing these information to those who are interested about this topic but has limited access in understanding chinese characters.

Let's start with the common terms used for chinese postpartum care: "坐月子" read as "zuo-yue-zi" in mandarin chinese (literally means 'sitting the month'), "cho-yut" in cantonese chinese, and called "ge-lai" in taiwanese/min-nan/fookien chinese dialect.   

Generally, the chinese postpartum care calls for a 30-45 days 'confinement' of the mother and newborn within the house. There is a also a long list of traditional practices such as no shower or strenuous exercise, shouldn't drink water, etc. Plus, strict menu!  These are the traditional or ancient ways.

There were modern twists on these practices, which I hope to share in my blogs lateron. I believe that some of these modern twists will be more acceptable and make better sense to our modern women of today.