Sunday, December 5, 2010

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?

8 notes of inspiration:

Fith said...

Nice info!I loike!Thank you so much for sharing...

fith sangat suka aktiviti berpantang,rasa bagai puteri raja yang bahagia,tambah pulak setiap minggu turun 1kg,haha,suka laa sangat.mak fith sgt teliti bab pantang,fith jugak sgt pandang berat benda ni.walaupun ramai dah org skrg kata tak perlu pantang2 tp fith rasa tetap perlu sbb badan kita baru lps mengalami 2 proses yg memenatkan ie pregnant n delivery,kan?
akak dah hbs pantang laa kan?lama ker cuti?

Mummy Nana said...

Good one...
mmmm 3 kali bersaln tapi xpernah pantang betul2.... yelah dok sini semua benda tak cukup... buat ala kadar jek... pastu I xreti dok diam or terbaring jek atas katil....xsampai 4 minggu dah bwk keta bagai.... mmg betul zaman moden byk benda shortcut.. tapi kalau boleh pantang betul2 maybe Insyaallah kita berkali ganda sihat.....org zaman dulu nie mmg bagus sebenarnya....

Ermayum said...

unai i pantang makan gatal ja seba ceasor- masa duk umah mak mandi air biasa ja sebab takda heater hehehe

Unknown said...

banyak betul info Unaizah kali ni..boleh simpan utk anak,cucu,cicit kita.. thanks.Chichiq pernah amal kan makan ragi...Tapi makan ragi dgn Milo panas coz senang nak menelan.. so tak da la rasa melekit kat kerongkong sangat.Makan twice a week. Bagus amalan ni,disamping baik utk organ dalaman kita dapat juga kurang kan berat badan.. ;)

Unaizah said...

Sori ye semua lambat reply komen. Balik kampung nearly sebulan, maid tak ikut balik so no assistant, sibuk berjalan and makan sini sana. Balik ke kl, kena masuk wad pulak.

Fith - You are absolutely right. Badan kita went thru very complicated processes and it really needs rest. Tp bila dah ada anak kita tak boleh nak pantang 100% sangat sebab anak-anak lain need attention gak.

Mummy Nana - Previous dua kali pantang, i pantang betul-betul sebab ada my mother and mother in law yg jaga. Third time pantang ni mostly pantang pemakanan je. Buat keje rumah and jaga anak-anak sebab pantang di rumah sendiri. Nak buat macam mana takkan nak buat tak tahu je kan.

Ermayum - Rumah unai pun takde heater. Unai masak air la campur dgn air biasa. If c-sect memang tak leh makan benda-benda gatal, if not jenuh menggaru la hihihi.

Ida - Dpt idea nak tulis entry ni sebab every time pantang tak ingat apa boleh makan apa tak boleh makan. Dah jot down ni boleh la refer balik in future. Anak cucu pun boleh buat rujukan. Unaizah tak penah amal apa-apa or amik ubat for family planning. If Ciciq ada petua apa-apa lagi, habaqla.

Que Quzayma said...

Salam unaizah, boleh saya dapatkan nbo mak munah? Tq in advance.

Unaizah said...

Que Quzayma - Saya minta maaf banyak-banyak sebab saya dh takde nombor fon Makcik Munah. Handphone saya hilang last April, sekali dgn nombor-nombor inside. Saya will try dapatkan balik dari kawan saya kot-kot dia still simpan.

Unaizah said...

Que Quzayma - Alhamdulillah, you're one lucky gal. Saya dah dapatkan nombor bidan tu dari my friend. Ni nombor tepon Makcik Munah 017-2132650. Harap-harapnya dia still guna that number.