C is for Confinement

Posted by spots (Singapore, Singapore) on 24 August 2005 in Food & Cuisine and Portfolio.

So recently I've been receiving advice from everyone on what to eat and what to avoid during my confinement period. They are all well-meaning individuals, with a wealth of experience in their grasp - nurses, parents/inlaws, relatives, colleagues, friends,... even the chatty counter staff at KK and the Indian neighbour who gave me advice half in Tamil, half in English! It's all nice and good, and even somewhat touching that they would bother to care so much. But things can get confusing when advice begins to conflict, or sound rather bizarre. Here are some samples of what I mean:

1. Person 1 says "Don't drink plain water" but Person 2 says "Must drink plain water as you are dehydrated after birth!"
2. Person 3 says "Papaya and fish soup is good for breast milk" but Person 4 says "Papaya cannot eat!"
3. Person 5 says "Drink, eat and bathe in ginger" but Person 6 says "Ginger is bad for baby as it causes jaundice"

4. Person 7 says "Don't eat ice cream and avoid milk!" but Person 7 says "Drink more milk for more breast milk!"

Sigh. The list goes on and on. Those of you out there who are Asian and have gone through confinement - I'm sure you understand what I'm saying, yea? ^__^

Check out a close-up of 1 piece of ginger, which is wider than my handspan!

For now, as Daniel has fallen into a spot of jaundice, Husband has made it clear that we are laying off all "weird" Chinese herbs. My cousin, who is a DOCTOR, has also told us that a paediatrician did a study on ginger and proved conclusively that ginger does encourage jaundice in babies. (That is the only "proven" thing that encourages jaundice.) So... most of these lovely herbs will be sitting in my pantry for now. Till Daniel is a little bigger & more able to fend for himself, we're not taking any chances! Now... can someone tell me what is wrong with drinking plain water and milk??!?