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A woman’s body goes through a number of changes during pregnancy and childbirth. Plus, there are so many opinions, views and myths related to post partum changes that it’s tough to figure out what to believe and what not to believe. For example, every culture has its own do’s and don’ts related to childbirth and lactation.
Whether you are a to-be-mom or a new mum, you must have come across many suggestions that seem to guarantee your baby’s good health and growth or your well being in general. One such family of suggestions, widely stressed across various communities, has to do with the bathing rituals that are to be followed after the baby is delivered.
In many countries and cultures, some beliefs require the new mother to do certain things after childbirth. However, there might not be homogeneity across them.
When it comes to bathing rituals, most cultures prefer not bathing for some time after the delivery, a period that can range from 3 to 30 days. While not bathing for three days after childbirth could be acceptable, going for thirty days without bathing is certainly a little too much.
But let us take a moment to consider the rationale behind this theory.
In many non-western countries, it is firmly believed that a balance of hot and cold temperature should be maintained in a new mother’s body. Since blood is considered ‘hot,’ the process of losing blood during childbirth is said to make the mother’s body cold and accordingly, it is believed that she has to regain warmth to balance and restore her state.
While Haitian or Thai cultures believe in hot showers and warm food and drinks after childbirth, Chinese and Korean traditions discourage showers. (1)
In fact, in Chinese culture, this practice is known as ‘Zuo Yue Zi’ that means ‘Sit the Month’. This custom is almost 2000 years old and is still going strong. It requires the new mum to take complete rest, snuggle and bond with her baby, have warm, nutritious food and recover after the labor of delivery.
There is no doubt that keeping the body under complete rest, staying indoors and replenishing it with adequate nutrition is great, complete rest and healing after childbirth is essential in strengthening the immune system of the mother and decreasing the vulnerability of the body towards any degenerative illnesses in the future.
But what about personal hygiene? And what do the doctors say regarding this?
Health care workers and doctors believe that there is no thumb rule to determine when exactly should the mother take a bath after childbirth, however, it largely depends on the kind of delivery that one has had.
If you had a normal delivery and all was fine, a warm shower within a couple of days may actually be a stress-buster, relaxing your limbs and resulting in better blood- circulation (2).
But it is still better to avoid tub-baths because the tub surface may have bacteria that may cause infection. Similarly, a tub-bath may be riskier if you had episiotomy or stitches in the perineum region. You may be advised to have Sitz-bath that has healing properties (3). If you had a C-section delivery, it is suggested that you take a shower only after consultation with the doctors, as it would depend on how well your stitches are healing (4).
All said and done, unless the doctor has advised, waiting for too long without a bath may also result in bacterial accumulation and infection. After all, you might not feel adequately clean by just using the washcloth to wipe away the sweat, grime or discharges.
Therefore, it is advised that you neither blindly discard nor accept traditional and cultural practices, but instead, take the advice of your doctors and make sure you follow-up as instructed.
