Post-Partum Care 

Post-partum care is a very important topic to most Orientals, but most likely is not considered as a health topic at all by many Americans. Why is postpartum care important? According to the Traditional Chinese Medicine perspective, a woman carried a baby in her body for nine months, and provided all the nutrition for her baby. Once the baby has been born, she has lost much of her essence and nutrition. She is in a state of great deficiency, a state of negative balance. 

A woman deserves the greatest care at this time: she needs to rest, to recuperate, to have good nutritional supplements, so she can produce enough milk for her baby, and obtain sufficient energy to replenish the needs of her body as well as care for the new baby.

Traditional Chinese Medicine also recommends that a new mother should keep warm and avoid cold weather, because her pores are wide open from the delivery. In doing so, she will minimize the changes of having low back pain in the future. Warmth is also important for the recovery of the uterus from the delivery, which minimizes future menstrual disorders as well as other problems arising in the pelvic structures. 

In Chinese tradition, a woman is expected to stay home in the house for one month after the delivery, so she can maximize her body's recovery. In addition, herbal supplements are also provided to facilitate the recovery and to minimize any future aliments. Acupuncture is used to help ease the pain, stop the bleeding or discharge after delivery, and even help enhance breast milk production. Postpartum depression can affect some women and can result in a devastating outcome. Again, acupuncture and herbal supplements have been used to help correct the problem.