Postpartum health and diet care for the new mother

woman carrying a baby
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Post partum the mother needs to rebuild her body’s immune system.
For this to be achieved, our elders always suggested the tips given below (collected from various parents of the HLP community, with little variations):

🔆After delivery, take proper rest. For the first 45 days postpartum it is a must. Then slowly start doing some Yoga exercises.

🔆Along with it, oil massage of the body is advised, with traditional dhooni smudging.

❇️ Mustard oil, heated with Ajwain(carom) and garlic pods can be used for massage.
❇️ Apply asafetida(Hing) paste lightly around the navel, to get rid of gases and stomach issues.

Postpartum diet

🔆 Eat traditional rice, traditionally prepared foods in ghee, jaggery.
(Suggestions, as per your need and conditions faced are detailed below).

🔅 Eat light and easily digestible food, with ghee and jaggery. This keeps you free of digestive issues plus the milk for breastfeeding your infant is better.

🔆 Drink water boiled with herbs for various benefits. Details of how to prepare such water are outlined later.

🔅You can eat paan (betel leaf) after lunch and dinner (with fennel, dhania dal, ajwain, sesame, cardamom, cloves – all roasted and powdered).

To cure toxins, and regain strength to your body

🔅A pinch of saffron, with water decreases pain and removes toxins and vaata rakta.

🔅 Pichi kusuma / swarna ksheeri (a thorned weed) root grinded in goat’s milk can be applied on stomach to decrease pain and remove toxins and vaata rakta.

🔅Take seeded black grapes , mahua flowers , dates , tawakshiri all roughly in equal quantities by weight. Make a fine paste and then make balls of this paste of soap-nut size. Take these balls with honey or khandsari powder(desi sugar, palmyra sugar) which reduces raktapaitya.

🔅Take ajwain, ashwagandha, jeera, long pepper(pippali) all in equal quantities. Make a fine powder and mix with milk to make like puri Aata balls. Slowly warm them and then cool them. Add little honey and jaggery to make to a size of small lemon. Take one a day to increase hunger and beat mandaagni.

🔅Grind 1/4 spoon pippali with ginger kashayam water, and consume to cure pitta rogas pre and post partum.

🔅Take seeds of palasha (Butea monosperma). Grind them with fruits of Cluster Fig Tree (ficus racemosa) to get a paste. Apply this paste pack to all regions of stomach abdomen yoni , thighs with cloth to maintain body shape to normal in a month.

🔅Application of nirgundi leaves paste in swelling regions with cloth cures pain and various other infections / diseases generated.

🔅Applying pure juice of castor plant leaves pack in yoni regions will decrease stomach bloating and pains.

🔅Take 5 grams of biriyani leaf, crushed powder. Boil it with 2 glass water like tea. Filter and consume daily morning for 2 months to get rid of stiff stomach and reduce pain after delivery.

🔅 Take equal weights of bilwa leaves and sendha namak. Warm in kadai and turn to powder. Take 2.5 grams of this churna twice a day with a glass warm water cure garba shuula(stomach pains).

🔅Tulasi seeds grinded and consumed with water decreases stomach stiffness and pain.

🔅 Moringa dry leaves, curry leaves powder, pursulane with daniya powder + sendha namak + amla powder daily with ghee in rice or snacks stiffs entire body.

🔅Dry roast jeera and black pepper in 2:1 ratio and grind it. Eat 1/2 tsp with ghee during every meal. Some also add kalonji (onion seeds) to it.

Mother

Are you breastfeeding?

For children who were not breast fed enough, our sashtra gives another solution..the Swarnaprashana..The ancient texts mention Swarnaprashana should be given to all children who didn’t receive breast milk.

If you are breast-feeding, remember

💠Hydration is the key. Ensure you drink a glass of water before and after each feeding session.

To increase mother’s milk:

♦️Desi raw papaya either like gazar halwa or cooked with tur daal and consumed, will increase milk, WBCs, and immunity.
♦️ajwain powder+ honey a spoon twice a day
♦️ajwain, salt, pepper in equal quantities grinded to a fine powder, to be taken 3 times daily 3 pinches with water.
♦️Atimadhuram powder 5 grams with a glass/cup of warm milk with khandsari once/twice a day.
♦️lotus seeds 5 grams powder with 5 grams kandsari with warm milk inceases milk.
♦️Satavari 10 grams(tula) and candy sugar 10 grams fine powdered mixed well in a glassful or cup of milk, and eating high quantities of tur daal in diet.
♦️kutaja ghan vati zandu tablet one tablet after meals will detoxify toxins in breastfeeding milk.
♦️kokilaksha seeds powder – one spoon boil in a glass of milk or water, filter, add candy sugar or jaggery and consume once daily to increase milk, decrease pains and toxins in milk.
♦️Regular amaranthus leafy veg (thorned variety is the best) with tur dal or direct curry increases milk.
♦️desi wheat flour puri fried in ghee soaked in milk with elaichi and khandsari as snack increases milk and quality of milk.
♦️apamarga seeds, khandsari, peeled cowhage seeds, ratnapurusha dry plant, all equal quantities by weight need to be powdered. 2.5 grams of this churna with a glassful of milk for 3 weeks decreases loss of nutrients, i.e. Mehavyadhi.
♦️Take half a spoon of saunf twice a day. They say it is excellent for producing milk.
♦️Take 5-10 garlic pearls and half a spoon of ghee, shallow fry the garlic till it is golden brown n soft. Eat that with roti or rice. This helps in producing more milk as well as quality milk which can help your baby fight against cold cough and congestion.
♦️If u have curry leaves, u can also make thogaiyal in small quantity and have with food. You can boil some curry leaves in water and drink that water.
♦️Take handful of pudina leaves, add 1/2 tsp of turmeric and boil inhale the steam, it cures cold, cough and fever.
♦️to control automatically oozing of milk warmed betel leaves pack need to applied to breast supported by cloths or threads.

Food to be avoided or monitored or taken in moderation:

❗Too much of Sour citrus juices, lemons, tamarind, pickles, sour leaf veg etc. loosens tissues and kid gets irritated,sweating.
❗high soluble fibre food Capsicum, radish, beans, cucumbers, bottle gourd, brown rice: upsets stomach of baby and creates gas.
❗Tanins, caffeine based Tea & coffees make baby to cry, unable to sleep.
❗High garlic, onions in diet(biryani, few curries, sauce) decreases cholestrol in milk, which may delay brain development.
❗Night shade plant vegetables or herbs like brinjal, raw tomatoes, cauliflower, kantakaari, etc. upset the nervous system if its amount exceeds in milk.
❗ Eat less chillies, mirchi powder(very hot variety) at very intitial stage of breast feeding as these have irritants which may upset baby. Or take buttermilk immediately after spicy/pickles .
❗Hexane based refined oils, Iodide salt are not good for anyone. Instead use kachi ghani oil and raw sea salt. Baked potatoes have good iodine.
❗Avoid MSG : pani poori, noodles, restaurant spicy veg – non veg items have MSG, it inhibits brain development.
❗Avoid green Potatoes: green pototoes are toxic for everyone.
❗Beverages , moderate sugar : contains bone, teeth depleting chemicals. It is advisable to intake sugar cane directly than sugar, which makes babies bone superstrong lifelong.
❗No A1 type Milk or Milk products,
❗No Farm Chicken
❗ No farm eggs.
❗Avoid the 5 whites.

close up of water pouring in glass
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Preparation tips for drinking waters

🔅Caromseed (Ajwain) water
This drink helps cleanse the stomach, improve digestion and speed up recovery after childbirth. 
Ingredients: 
½ tsp powdered carom seeds (ajwain) powder
1 cup filtered water ½tsp desi ghee (optional)
2 tsp powdered jaggery (gud)
Method: Heat the ghee in a pan. Add carom seeds powder and water and stir the mixture well. Bring to a boil and add jaggery. Stir the  mixture till the jaggery dissolves. Simmer for another 2‐3 minutes. Remove from the heat and  allow it to cool until a little warm. Strain and sip the warm drink. 

🔅Carom And Fennel  seed water
Carom (ajwain) seeds help in cleansing the stomach and uterus. Fennel(Saunf) helps in milk production and prevent colic in  babies. 
Ingredients:
1 liter filtered  water
1 tbsp fennel (saunf) seeds
½ tbsp carom (ajwain)  seeds
Method: Put water, fennel and carom seeds in a pan and bring to boil.  Lower the flame and stir boil the mixture for another five minutes. Remove from the heat, cover the pan and let it cool a bit. Strain and store  the  water in an  insulated flask, so that the mixture remains warm for several hours.  Keep taking small sips  of the water as often  as you like. 

🔅Barley and fennel water (jau aur saunf ka pani)
Barley and fennel water is believed to increase milk production. It is also believed that it helps ease gastric problems, constipation and cold symptoms. 
Ingredients:
½ cup whole or pearled barley (jau)
1 to 2 tsp of fennel seeds (saunf) or fennel  powder 
4 cups filtered water
jaggery(gur)–  optional
Method:
Wash the barley grains well and soak them overnight in filtered water. Strain and keep the water aside. In a pan, take four cups of water, including the strained  water (which carries the nutrients of barley). Add in the soaked barley grains and fennel seeds and bring the mixture to a boil. Lower the flame and let it simmer for another 5 minutes. Please note that the longer barley simmers the thicker the mixture will become. Add more water to dilute this mix to a watery consistency. Remove from the flame and allow it to settle for about 5 minutes or until warm. Strain and pour into a clean insulated flask so that it stays warm for several hours. Drink this water throughout the day. 
You can add honey/ jaggery for  added flavor. 

🔅Holy basil (tulsi) water
Tulsi is believed to set up milk production and flow.  This herb is a good source of carotene, niacin, thiamine and iron. It is believed to calm the nerves and  initiate the let down reflex. This drink may also help  digestion, reduce  indigestion and increase the appetite. 
Ingredients:                6 to 8 fresh holy basil (tulsi) leaves.               1 cup filtered  water ½ tsp honey (shahad)  ‐  optional
Method: In a pan, add water and crushed/finely chopped basil (tulsi) leaves. Bring the mixture to boil. Simmer and let the leaves settle for about 5 minutes. Remove from the flame. Pour the mixture through a sieve into a cup. Add honey to taste. Drink warm.

To stop vomiting (pre-post pregnancy):

🔅puffed rice, bilwa leaves, curry leaves all in equal quantities by weight made to fine balls of size soap nut seeds, consuming 1 ball 3 times Daily, will cure vomiting sensation.
🔅consumption of milk shake made up of popcorns, elaichi, internal black shell removed seeds of silk cotton tree in equal quantities of 2 spoons each, grinded well to form nut milk shake will cure vamana.

🔅 raw bilwa fruit boiled kashayam cooled and added honey drinking will cure hiccups.

To increase breast size and stiffness

♦️Any 2 dry roots of (Sida acuta, bala, ati bala, maha bala, Pavonia odorata, Muttavapulagam), Acorus calamus, (roots best) whole plant of insulin plant(costus igneus), kshirakakoli, kalanamak (black salt) all in equal quantities by weight powdered well and mixed with any of one (butter, sesame, ghee) and applied to breast, (vaksha) and thighs will increase size of breast.
♦️ Equal quantities by weight of ash gourd leaves and sesame oil should be boiled at low heat. After cooling the oil needs to be cloth filtered to extract juicy leaves oil with palms. this oil application stiffens breast.
♦️Acorus calamus , ashwagandha , Catharanthus roseus leaves – grinded paste pack on breasts.
♦️White shoe flower , brown or black cow milk paste pack on breasts.
♦️(Sphaeranthus indicus) gorakhmundi entire fresh plant fine paste filtered juice boiled in sesame oil, this oil application increases breast and stiffens it.
♦️Lemon leaves juice, fruits of Solanum virginianum or any solanum species paste application on breast will improve size and stiffness.

Breast infections

♦️ For infection on breast due baby teeth hurting, use marigold flower paste on injury.
♦️khurasani ajwain grinded paste applied using a cloth over breast decreases vata-swelling, fevers related to breast swellings.
♦️Bitter apple roots paste applied to breast will cure pains of swelling immediately.

Stomach and abdominal pains

♦️Nymphaea caerulea, blue water lilly/lotus petals + honey + black/brown seeded grapes all grinded well to form chutney need to be consumed, of the size of small lemon, with warm water. It removes pain in stomach.
♦️Abhrak bhasma + sesame oil rubbing cloth pack will cure pains and swelling and pains.

Pimples on breast

Breast needs cleaning with neem leaves juice, White Ash from burning neem leaves need to be collected upto 20 grams and applied to breast with mustard oil again sprayed with Ash. In 5 days pimples will disappear.

To cure bleeding, swellings , pains

♦️Majuphal (Mazu, Muphal)
Bengali- Maju-phal; Tamil- Machakai, Mashikai;
Telugu- Machi Kaya;
Kannada- Machikai;
Malayalam- Majakani,)
powder with warmed castor leaves apply using cloth as pack on the area.
♦️Apply (TRIANTHEMA PORTULACASTRUM) swetha punarnava paste pack, using cloth.
♦️apply henna leaves paste, castor leaves paste using cloth packs in Abdominal / thighs swelling, paining regions.
♦️Menthol flakes + edible camphor melts if mixed in hand, its application to paining region gently. (please avoid eye contact as it is very hot).

Note – If you have any health issues, please check with your doctor/Ayurvedic Vaidya before taking home remedies.

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