Traditional dietary conditioning and tonification during confinement is divided into 4 major periods. Each different period will hav a different objective and different focus on dietary conditioning and tonification to cater to the mother’s body changes and stage of recovery. Focused conditioning and tonification methods during the confinement period aim to secure early recuperation with the perfect diet to maintain a good figure, restore health and attain a good physical condition.
1st week (1st – 7th day)
Promoting blood circulation and eliminating stasis and clotting, eliminating lochia, expel wind and cold, promoting healing of wound
Key focus: clear waste from the body, eliminate stasis clots and promote the healing of wound from delivery.
Recommended dishes:
Breakfast: Shredded chicken porridge, wolfberry porridge
Lunch/Dinner: Sesame oil chicken, pig maw fried with shredded ginger, motherwort & ginger soup, argy wormwood leaf, egg & ginger soup
Others: Confinement herbal tea, Shenghua soup
2nd week (8th day – 14th day)
Enhancing Qi and nourishing blood, promoting lactation, keeping the uterus warm
Key focus: Tonifying the middle Qi, nourishing blood and improving blood circulation, ensuring proper lactation and promoting a good recovery and contraction of the uterus and vagina.
Recommended dishes:
Breakfast: Shredded chicken brown rice porridge, Rice wine mee sua noodles, pig kidney with sesame oil mee sua noodles, egg sandwich
Lunch/Dinner: Rice wine chicken, ginger fried spinch, shredded ginger fried salmon, steamed minced pork, ginger wine fungus stewed pork, Ning Shen chicken soup
Others: Confinement herbal tea
3rd week (15th – 21st day)
Recovering Yuan Qi, strengthening tendons and lower back and promoting physical strength and energy.
Key focus: Strengthen the lower back, strengthen tendons, bones and ligaments, enhance the recovery of the pelvis as well as to prevent back pain and postpartum uterine prolapsed.
Recommended dishes
Breakfast: Peanuts and shredded chicken porridge, fish slices porridge, ginger wine chicken mee sua noodles
Lunch/Dinner: Steamed pomfret with wolfberry and angelica, golden straw mushrooms and black fungus chicken, steamed chicken with American ginseng, pig kidney with sesame oil, Ba Zhen soup, peanut pork trotter soup, Shi Quan Da Bu soup
Others: Confinement herbal tea, ginger rice tea, red bean paste
4th week (22nd – 28th day)
Enhancing strength and nourishing Yuan Qi, stimulating mental functions and strengthening the body
Key focus: Nourishing of the kidney and liver, physical rehabilitation, nourishment of the brain, enhancement of mental functions. It can be appropriate to commence on skin care and prevention of hair loss.
Recommended dishes
Breakfast: Pumpkin porridge, pork and brown rice porridge, sesame oil rice noodles
Lunch/Dinner: Steamed pomfret with ginseng and fungus, tumeric fried chicken, pork trotters in vinegar, steamed chicken drumstick (with essence of Chicken), minced meat with okra, Du Zhong Bu Yao soup
Others: Confinement herbal tea, black sesame paste
The above weekly food recommendations may be adjusted to suit your personal condition and preferences so that you can arrange for the 3 meals a day to have a enjoyable tonification diet.
While different confinement nannies will have different cooking style, it is best to communicate with your confinement nannies on your food preferences. We have customers specifically asking for Hakka nannies who can cook Hakka dishes 🙂
At STAR Confinement Nanny, our nannies are customer-oriented. They take note of your food/diet preferences and will cook accordingly to your appetite. This is to encourage/boost your appetite slowly and the body will takes time to absorb the nutrients.
As some mommies may choose to order tingkat confinement meals during your confinement period for the convenience, however, it is best to eat freshly cooked food and in accordingly to your body constitution. Â Confinement food is not a one-size fit all, our nannies will see if your body can take the herbs otherwise it will result in a heaty body. You have to do it slowly and not everything at once.
And of course, it is not always necessary to eat pork livers (some of us may not like this or many of us do not like to eat organs) you can always replace it with alternatives like black bean soup or other plant-based that are high in iron sources.
While it is essential to get proper nutrients, one should not over-eat too much of a good thing as it is easy to put on weight too when every confinement dishes seems so delicious!
Here’s wishing you a pleasant confinement period, have regular meals, proper sleeping hours and ENJOY bonding time with your newborn. 🙂
