How to clean your lower body during confinement

Most women wash their vagina every day because paying attention to vaginal hygiene can reduce the occurrence of gynecological diseases. How do women clean their private parts during the confinement period? The body resistance of women after childbirth is relatively weak. If it is a normal delivery and no episiotomy, the vulva can be cleaned normally, but some precautions need to be taken when cleaning the vulva, such as using a special cleaning basin and towel. Let’s learn more about it in detail.

1. What should I do if I feel itchy down there during confinement?

Vaginitis is an inflammation of the vaginal mucosa and submucosal connective tissue and is a common disease in gynecological clinics. Due to the anatomical and biochemical characteristics of normal healthy women, the vagina has a natural defense function against the invasion of pathogens. When the natural defense function of the vagina is destroyed, pathogens can easily invade and cause vaginal inflammation. Due to estrogen deficiency, young girls and postmenopausal women have a thin vaginal epithelium, reduced intracellular glycogen content, and a vaginal pH of around 7. Therefore, the vaginal resistance is low and they are more susceptible to infection than adolescents and women of childbearing age.

Before treating postpartum vaginitis, a leucorrhea examination should be performed first to identify the pathogen of vaginitis. When using medication, it is necessary to be targeted and weigh the pros and cons. It is necessary to treat the vaginitis of the parturient while trying to avoid adverse effects of the medication on the infant.

If it is Trichomonas vaginitis or bacterial vaginosis, you can take metronidazole orally or insert it into the vagina; if it is Candida vaginitis, you can take itraconazole orally or insert Daconil suppositories, Canesten suppositories or nystatin tablets into the vagina. It should be noted that the above oral medications can be excreted through breast milk and may have adverse effects on infants. Therefore, breastfeeding is not advisable while taking the medication. If the postpartum lochia has not yet cleared, it is not advisable to use local vaginal suppositories or vaginal douching, so as to avoid ascending vaginal infection and pelvic inflammatory disease.

2. How to clean the vulva during confinement?

1. Use disinfectant paper after delivery

The disinfectant paper sold in general stores is not thoroughly disinfected. It is best to steam it in a pressure cooker for 10 minutes and use it to lay underneath after delivery.

2. How to clean the vulva during confinement? Warm towel compress helps reduce swelling

If there is a perineal tear or episiotomy wound, and the genitals are obviously swollen, the mother can use a warm towel for hot compresses to help reduce the swelling, three times a day. Starting 5 to 6 days after delivery, you can use warm water 1:5,000 potassium permanganate solution for a sitz bath once a night to promote healing of the perineal wound. It takes about 2 weeks for the perineal injury caused during childbirth to heal completely. After that, you can change to cleaning the perineum with warm water once a day.

3. Use maternity sanitary napkins

How to treat postpartum hemorrhage? Wash the vulva with warm water every day, dry it and put a sanitary napkin on it to prevent it from coming into contact with unsterilized pants and keep it dry. If there is a wound on the perineum, the healing of the wound should be checked every day. If the wound is infected, the stitches should be removed early to facilitate drainage.

4. Special wash basin and towel

How to take a bath during the confinement period? Prepare your own special washing basin and towel. The cleaning basin should be cleaned before use, and the towel should be dried in the sun or in a ventilated place after use. Towels that are not exposed to sunlight for a long time are prone to breed bacteria and fungi. The mother should pay attention to the cleanliness of the perineum. After delivery, the perineum should be cleaned at least twice a day in a dedicated cleaning basin. Generally, warm water is sufficient for flushing, and no other medicine is needed.

5. Change and wash your underwear frequently

Mothers should change and wash their underwear frequently, and wash the vulva with warm water or 1:5000 potassium permanganate solution every day. Postpartum women should not wear underwear made of chemical fiber fabrics because they are non-absorbent and non-ventilated, which will make the vulva damp, irritate the skin, and cause vulva itching. Once the vulva shows symptoms of redness, swelling, pain and itching, you can choose to use Chinese medicine water for washing. Recipe: 20g of Sophora flavescens, 30g of Smilax glabra, 20g of Chrysanthemum indicum. Wash with water, decoct in water to remove residue or use for washing or sitz bath.

6. Clean the vulva after defecation

After defecation, develop the habit of wiping from front to back with toilet paper and washing or flushing the anus with warm water. If it is not wiped clean, fecal stains will remain at the anus and contaminate the underwear. The intestinal bacteria contained in the feces stains will take the opportunity to enter the vagina and cause inflammation. Therefore, you should clean your vagina at least twice a day, once for routine cleaning at night and once after defecation.