Confinement

When I was pregnant with Son, I hear all these horror stories about confinement.
How brutal it can be.
How horrible the food is.
How out-of-your-mind bored one can get.

Fast forward to after giving birth to Son.

I find that confinement is necessary.
Peaceful even.

When you get pregnant, your body and the insides expand multiple times its normal size.
When you give birth, or in my case, had an emergency Ceasarean, your body goes through a massive amount of trauma, whether you know/feel it or not.

Hence, confinement is necessary.

A strict diet must be followed.
I don't mind this at all.
It's the healthiest I've eaten in my life, that 44 days of confinement.
You need to have all the wounds on your inside to heal properly.
A good, balanced, healthy diet can help you recover better, faster.

No strenuous activities.
Good.
I need my rest with all the sleepless nights and all.
To tax the body more after the trauma its gone through may bring future discomfort.

Massages, at least 3 times before the end of the 44 days.
Spa at home.
What could be better?
Get all the "urat" straightened and all the "angin" out.

I am irritated when people call confinement a "backward tradition".
How is trying to heal properly for the sake of your health a tradition, let alone "backward"?
I say it's common sense.

I believe we have only this ONE body, and insyaAllah we'll be using it until our death.
If we don't take care of it, and something "breaks down", there is no "body shop" that sells spare parts.

So why not follow a strict confinement regime.
If you can think of "money" for "a better future", why can't you think of your health for the sake of the same?

Alhamdulillah, I am blessed to be able to follow such a regime because I have an amazing familial support system.
I understand that not everyone have the same priviledges i.e. single moms, staying alone (without mother/mother in law, helper), have elder children to take care of, etc., but to those who do, confinement can't hurt.

Anis