Confinement / Pantang

Dear Diary,

In Malay customs, after a wife gives birth, she’s required to undergo a period of confinement or berpantang for 44 days. Sometimes for 100 days. There are set of rules that she must abide by. It is not the same for every lady since they are those who are stricter and more disciplined than others. Following are some rules that I obeyed and some that I’ve heard being practiced.

1. Bathe with air rebusan daun inai, daun pandan, daun sirih, daun kunyit, daun lengkuas, daun pisang berangan and daun serai wangi. Best tau mandi air rebusan dedaun ni, badan and rambut wangi je. The more types of leaves you can get the better. If not, any combination of the seven leaves is okay. If it is very difficult to get all these plants, just bathe with warm water.

2. Massage and menungku.

3. Eat traditional medicine such as jamu and air akar-akar kayu.

4. Eat a lot of warm food (benda panas) such as black pepper, ginger and turmeric.

5. Eat a lot of ulam-ulaman such as daun and ubi cekur, daun tenggek burung, pegaga and lemuni.

6. Eat ikan haruan or its essence so that your stitches heal quickly.

7. Avoid eating cold food (benda sejuk) such as papaya, banana, cold drinks, cucumber, bayam and kangkung; watery food (benda berair) such as watermelon; windy food (benda berangin) such as jackfruit, caffeinated drinks and tea; acidic food (benda tajam) such as pineapple, lime and tapai.

8. Avoid eating benda gatal such as egg and ikan kembung too early in your confinement since your stitches are still new.

9. Young coconut juice, ice, laksa, pulut, mi and kuayteow are a big NO NO (nanti kembang urat).

10. Use air rebusan daun sirih as feminine wash.

11. Sleep on your back (menelentang), not on your side (mengiring). I paid a painful lesson when I slept mengiring. My uterus ached like hell. When we just gave birth, the position of the uterus is not yet at its usual place and it shifts easily. Thus, it hurts when it is not where it is supposed to be.

12. Wear socks and bengkung/girdle. I usually apply ointment on my feet before wearing socks and apply paste made from kapur sirih and lime juice on my tummy before wearing bengkung.

13. It is important to keep one’s body warm during confinement. Watch whatever you eat because your baby will eat those things too.

For my recent confinement, I was massaged by Mak Munah, a midwife from Puchong. During the massage session, we talked about many things. These are some additional tips that she gave me:

1. For smooth and easy delivery, don’t disobey (derhaka) your husband.

2. Bathe with ginger water. (Boil about 1kg of old ginger – halia tua)

3. Bathe only once per day.

4. In order to have good healthy body (from woman’s health perspective), don’t eat pineapple, kangkung, kailan, young coconut juice and sugar cane juice.

5. Roast lime used to make paste for tummy first before squeezing the juice out so that your tummy won’t itch. No wonder it itches so bad every time I take off the bengkung.

6. To plan your family, drink mixture of honey and yeast/ragi (that have been pounded). After “being” with your husband, put your right heel on your left toe and touch right toe with your fingers. Repeat with your left heel. Another method that can be practiced is sitting on your right leg while straightened your left leg and touch your toe with your fingers. Kedudukan kaki seperti duduk di antara dua sujud tapi sebelah je, sebelah kaki lagi melunjur, jari sentuh ibu jari kaki. Repeat the method with your other leg.

Am I making any sense at all? Well, I documented all these for my future reference. You guys out there, who read my humble blog, are more than welcome to share all these petua. Feel free to add to the list if you have any tips to share.

ps: Pizza masuk kategori mana ek?