How long can I wash my hair and take a bath during confinement?

You cannot wash your hair and take a bath too early during the confinement period. Generally, you cannot wash your hair and take a bath within one week after giving birth. The main reason is that washing your hair and taking a bath too early may cause the mother to catch a cold and have a fever. In addition, you must pay attention to keeping warm and eating a balanced diet during the confinement period, otherwise you will easily suffer from confinement diseases. If the baby was born naturally, the bathing time can be advanced. However, for mothers who had a caesarean section, the bathing time should be extended and contact with the wound should be avoided.

How many days after a normal birth can a pregnant woman take a bath?

Modern Chinese medicine believes that there is no scientific reason for pregnant women not to take a bath or wash their hair during the confinement period. This is not only unhygienic but also inconsistent with modern aesthetic tastes and is harmful to the physical and mental health of the mother. Excessive sweating during childbirth, coupled with increased sweating after delivery, can make the body, scalp and hair very dirty and have an unpleasant odor. Studies have shown that bathing and washing hair can remove dust and dirt from the mother's body, keep her clean and avoid bacterial infection. Washing hair can also stimulate the scalp and the meridians running on the scalp, improve the mother's spirit and bring a comfortable mood.

However, since the new mother has just given birth and is still relatively weak, she does need to be more careful than usual when bathing and washing her hair.

Notes on bathing and washing hair:

1. If there are no wounds or incisions on the perineum of the mother, she can take a shower after 2-3 days in summer and after 5-7 days in winter. If the perineal wound is large or the laceration is severe, or there is a knife wound on the abdomen, you must wait for the wound to heal before taking a shower. You can do a sponge bath first.

2. When taking a bath after childbirth, you should pay attention to "preventing cold in winter, heatstroke in summer, and wind in spring and autumn." In summer, the bathroom temperature can be kept at room temperature. When it is cold, the bathroom should be warm and sheltered from wind. The water temperature for bathing should be kept at around 35℃-37℃. Do not take a shower with cold water in summer to avoid poor discharge of lochia, which may cause abdominal pain, irregular menstruation, body pain, etc. in the future.

3. It is best to take a shower (with the help of family members), and it is not suitable to take a bath in a tub to prevent dirty water from entering the vagina and causing infection. If the mother is weak and cannot stand to take a shower, she can take a sponge bath.

4. Each bath should not be too long, generally 5-10 minutes is enough.

5. When washing your hair, you can use your fingertips to massage your scalp. After washing, dry it immediately with a hair dryer to avoid being blown by cold air.

6. Dry your hair immediately after washing it and wrap it with a dry towel to prevent the wet hair from taking away a large amount of heat when it evaporates, causing the blood vessels in the scalp to suddenly contract after being stimulated by cold and causing headaches.