Can I take a bath every day during the confinement period?

In traditional Chinese thinking, women can only take a bath after the full month of confinement. However, this idea is very unscientific nowadays. Because women bleed heavily during childbirth and expend a lot of physical energy, their bodies will have a lot of dirt and sweat. If they do not take a bath for a long time, their skin will easily get infected. So, since you can take a bath during the confinement period, can you take a bath every day?

Usually, the internal opening of the cervix returns to its non-pregnant state one week after delivery, and it takes 4 weeks for the entire cervix to return to normal. During childbirth, there is a wound on the perineum of the mother. If she wants to take a sitz bath, she must start one week after childbirth, otherwise it will cause ascending infection. You should avoid being on an empty stomach before taking a bath to prevent hypoglycemia, dizziness, etc. The bathing time should not be too long, 5-10 minutes each time is enough. The room temperature is most suitable at 20 degrees Celsius. The shower water temperature is between 34-36 degrees Celsius, which is mildly irritating and has good effects. In addition, you can use a non-irritating disinfectant to disinfect the vulva after bathing. But please note that after taking a bath, the mother should dry her body as soon as possible and get dressed to avoid catching a cold from the wind. Mothers who have had an unsmooth delivery, have excessive bleeding, or have a generally poor physical condition should not take a bath too early and can instead take a sponge bath.

After giving birth, it takes 6-8 weeks for the uterus to return to its non-pregnant state. In the first 1-2 weeks, a large amount of lochia will be discharged from the mother's uterine cavity, the cervix will be in a relaxed and open state, and there will be local wounds in the uterine cavity that have not healed due to placental detachment. At this time, due to improper bathing methods, bacteria may invade the birth canal and cause postpartum infection. The most common is to cause endometritis, some even invade the fallopian tube, pelvic cavity and cause adnexitis, pelvic inflammatory disease, etc.

Although bathing carelessly may bring a lot of trouble, it does not mean that bathing is strictly prohibited during the confinement period. A large amount of water is retained in the body of the mother during pregnancy, and the skin's secretion function is vigorous after delivery. The mother sweats a lot and urinates a lot in the first few days after delivery, and her body is relatively weak. At this time, the mother's ability to resist disease decreases, so the decision whether to take a bath should be based on the mother's physical condition and the temperature at the time. If the mother's physical strength has recovered relatively normally, the room is warm, and there is no major postpartum trauma, even if the sutures of the perineum wound have not been removed, she can start taking warm showers 2-3 days after delivery, and the vulva can also be washed with warm boiled water every day to keep it clean and hygienic. But tub baths must be avoided. Women who have undergone cesarean section should delay bathing, but should still wash their entire body with warm water every day and keep their clothes and bedding clean. In winter, mothers should pay attention to keeping warm. When lighting a stove indoors, they should take care to prevent gas poisoning. There should be good ventilation equipment; or air conditioning or heating can be installed. Pregnant women with abdominal wounds should not open the gauze pad by themselves when taking a bath, and should not allow water to seep into the gauze pad.

Experts observed the physiological changes in the bodies of mothers who took a shower after delivery and found that the body temperature of 2/3 of the mothers rose slightly after showering, and the body temperature of 1/3 dropped slightly, but the increase and decrease would not exceed 0.5 degrees Celsius. All mothers had normal pulses and minimal fluctuations in blood pressure after showering. In addition, experts also found that after taking a shower, the uterine contraction of mothers and the color, amount, odor and bleeding of daily lochia are similar to those of mothers who do not take a shower; there is no adverse effect on the recovery of the uterus; bowel movements are normal; there is no inhibitory effect on mammary gland secretion, and it can promote better quality of milk.

Compared with mothers who did not take a bath, mothers who took a bath after delivery did not suffer from perineum infection or infection in other parts of the body. Bathing can dilate the blood vessels in the mother's skin, speed up blood flow throughout the body, and has the effect of activating blood circulation and removing blood stasis. It can relieve fatigue during the delivery process. These mothers generally feel refreshed. After taking a shower, 84% of the mothers had improved complexion, deeper sleep, and faster physical recovery.

It is worth noting that in the summer, when taking a bath, mothers should not use cold water, otherwise it may cause irregular menstruation and body pain due to stagnation of qi and blood; in the winter, the bathroom should be warm and the bath water should be hot, but do not sweat profusely, because

Excessive sweating will make the mother, who has already lost body fluids and energy, even more tired. In addition, the mother should not bathe too many times, slightly less than a normal person, and should eat a little after bathing to replenish the depleted qi and blood.