postpartum care, traditional chinese style

After childbirth, the Chinese tradition is for the woman who've just given birth to be confined indoors for a month, eating special foods that Chinese medicine deems to be most restorative to the woman's qi, and not bathing with or consuming plain water, from the tap or otherwise. Postpartum is one of four critical time periods in a woman's life wherein she can (re)adjust her body's overall health. To not take this time seriously will lead to chronic pain and strength issues down the road. There's a term for this restorative period, which could be literally translated in many different ways. The characters themselves stand for "sit" (zuo4), "moon" (yue4), and "child" (zi).

Needless to say, most people here were aghast to hear that I did not 坐月子 after birthing my previous two kids. I often wistfully thought about this tradition, and how I wish I could have experienced it. "But still not worth going through another pregnancy, childbirth, and the recovery afterwards," I concluded after each daydream. But lo and behold, I get to experience it after all. At first, I worried that it might be overly indulgent, because postpartum care centers aren't cheap. With room and board, and full-time baby care, laundry and cleaning services, etc... good postpartum care centers are financial investments i.e. ranging from around NT$5000 to NT$8000 *minimum* per day. At least this was the range of starting prices with the four centers I visited before I signed the contract with the one at which I'm currently staying. This one is known for its good meals, and I figured food is the most important aspect of my stay.

Given that Hsinchu has the highest birth rate for the entire island of Taiwan, we the lucky pregnant women of Hsinchu run into problems that other women in other cities don't have to worry about--not enough space in the postpartum center of our choice. I'm slowly realizing how blessed I am to have local people--if not friends, at least truly friendly--who were looking out for me. One of them got on my case about securing a spot at a postpartum center when I was just eight weeks pregnant. I was all, what's the hurry, dude? Little did I know that by the time she took me to tour the centers at nine weeks pregnant, all the smallest rooms have been booked at my postpartum care center. Apparently most women start reserving a spot as soon as they see the two lines on the pregnancy test. So I had to opt for the next size up room, paying a little extra per day for space that I don't absolutely need (adding to my bourgeois guilt). Another local person helped secured an extra meal every day for my husband by pressing the center with the fact that I came via her recommendation. Once again, the Chinese system of personal relationships yielding business results played a hand. 

Throughout my pregnancy, after I've put down a deposit already, I struggled every now and then with the thought of such a luxury as having this postpartum period away from home. Did I really need to be fully cared for in my meals and environments after I gave birth for the third time? Shouldn't I be an old hand at this and not just squander our family's money in something I don't absolutely need? Maybe I'll just stay for two weeks instead of the full month... But as it turns out, I really needed and appreciated this time now, given how brutal c-section recovery has been. I was deeply worried at the hospital on how I was going to be able to care for the newborn with diaper changes when I couldn't even get out of bed without breaking down in pain-induced tears or having to re-learn how to pee again after they pulled out the catheter. The postpartum care center staff has been absolutely wonderful in helping me keep Jude clean and making sure he's doing well physically. It freed up a lot of time for me to lie down and heal. 

view of my room from the entryway

There is wireless, and a big comfortable bed. What more do I need? I'm situated on the second floor (out of five floors), just floor-level with a kindergarten next door. Watching the kids play during the day prevents me from being too stir crazy, although it does make me wonder about my own kids and what they're up to. At night, the kindergarten offers some kind of zumba class for adults, so I get to spy on people dancing around. 

The metal can in the shower stall contains herbal water infused with palm grass, which supposedly has pain relieving properties. It is renewed every afternoon piping hot so I can wipe myself down (c-section, sigh) without being cold. Tap water is not allowed; I was not to use the actual shower.

The center also provides a breast pump, bottles, and sterilizer. I used the pump twice during the first two days due to engorgement. It is truly hospital-grade quality. A lot of moms use it to stock up bottles so that they can sleep through the night while the nursery watches their babies all night and feed accordingly. I would have done the same if I'm not so paranoid about confusing my breasts' milk supply. (Is that really a thing? Oh well.)

To prevent group outbreaks, we have to wear outer robes such as this along with medical face masks in order to meet with visitors on the first floor lobby. The newborns are to be kept away from siblings and in the nursery. If any outsiders come into my room to visit, I must let the staff know so that they can disinfect the room for 30 minutes before wheeling the newborn back into the room.

This painting was lit up and quite eye-catching upon my first entrance into my room. Apparently every room has a painting in such a style, just different subjects. Some moms had voiced their preference not to have such pictures in their space, but these artworks stay up because they're done by a well-connected personage who is not to be offended. I think I got lucky with my art piece, as I quite like the abstract feel to it.

I plan to detail the meal aspect of the postpartum care center in my next post.