DIY Confinement with Madam Partum — Herbal Soup, Red Dates Tea, Shower Herbs
Confinement after pregnancy is the period when mothers are kept indoors and fed with nourishing meals and herbal soups to recuperate from her pregnancy and childbirth. Asians are familiar with this practice of nursing mothers back to good health but it’s largely foreign to Westerners. I heard the mother’s constitution can be improved after good confinement care, and vice versa.
This confinement period usually lasts from 28 to 40 days. In fact, there are practitioners of Chinese medicine who think that 60 days is best, because that’s when the body is fully recovered.
About Confinement Herbal Soups
Along with nutritious confinement food, confinement herbs are essential for mothers to recuperate and regain vitality, especially so for the next pregnancy.
Confinement food caterers usually have generic herbal soups, but soups boiled for confinement purposes is uniquely prescribed to aid mothers in recovery. t is perfectly fine to consume most herbal soups on top of the confinement herbs. If in doubt, please consult your Traditional Chinese Medicine (“TCM”) physician.
I am a believer of good confinement food and thus planned to drink about 2 months/60 days’ worth of confinement herbs. So after my month of confinement, I continued to nourish my body with herbal soups from Madam Partum for another 28 days. According to my TCM doctor, I should/could continue with the soups for the second month because of my weaker body constitution.
If you or your caregivers are well-versed in herbs, by all means buy the necessary TCM herbs to portion out yourself. If not, the easy way to get all the essential nourishment is to order pre-packed TCM soup herbs from Madam Partum, or other vendors.
Madam Partum’s Confinement Soup
Some TCM herbs have questionable sources, especially the suspiciously cheap ones. One shall not worry with Madam Partum. It is afterall brand that’s part of Chien Chi Tow, a renowned TCM brand that has been around Singapore for over 50 years. The premium quality of Madam Partum’s herbs was also attested by a fellow mummy who said that her experienced confinement nanny had praises for their herbs. As for me, I only know how to judge the red dates. Instead of small and dried looking, those provided by Madam Partum are huge and plump, looking expensive and of good quality.
For Madam Partum’s confinement herbs, the herbs have been thought out and specially picked for your confinement needs. They are also suitable for mummies who went through either natural or caesarean birth, and those who are breastfeeding.
The herbal proportions have been weighed and pre-packed into 28 packets for each day, according to your recovery phase. Labelled Day 1, 2, 3, and so on, you just need to tear the packet of the day and boil the herbs based on the instructions printed on the packaging.
There are twelve types of soups in Madam Partum’s 28-Day confinement herbal soup set (S$258):
- Day 1: Postpartum Tonic Soup (Sheng hua Tang, 生化汤)*
- Clear lochia from your body and promote better uterus recovery.
- Day 2, 3: Green Papaya Prolactation Soup
- Helps to boost milk supply and get rid of excess water retention.
- Day 4, 5: Astragulus Qi-boosting Soup
- Helps in wound healing and boost ‘qi’
- Day 6: Notoginseng Pork-Ribs Soup
- Clear blood stasis and promote blood circulation
- Day 7, 11, 15: Nourishing Herbal Soup
- Revitalize and nourish yin
- Day 8, 12: Eucommia Waist-Strengthening Soup
- Strengthen waist and kidney
- Day 9, 13, 16: Pig-Tail Waist-Strengthening Soup
- Strengthen waist, bone and muscle
- Day 10, 14, 17: Blood Nourishing Black Chicken Soup
- Nourish blood and ‘qi’
- Day 18, 22, 26: Four Treasure Chicken Soup
- Nourish ‘qi’ and strengthen spleen
- Day 19, 23, 27: Pig Stomach Herbal Soup
- Strengthens and warms stomach
- Day 20, 24, 28: Fo-ti Root Blood Nourishing Soup
- Nourish blood and promote better hair growth.
- Day 21, 25: Brain Nourishing Soup
- Boost brain-power and relieve headaches.
*Since I was having them for the second month post-childbirth, I skipped Sheng Hua Soup meant to be drank on Day 1 of confinement.
Other than quality herbs used, Madam Partum’s packaging is commendable. Certain herbs are packed seperately from the rest. Packets within a packet to ensure freshness. 🙂
Though what I like most is the label on the sachet that tells me the benefits of consuming the soup of the day and the type of meat I can cook with the herbs, such as black chicken and pig stomach. This is especially useful for noob cook like me. Other useful information on the label includes the different types of herbs in it, and cooking instructions.
Other Confinement Practices
Other than these confinement herbal soups, Madam Partum has many confinement care products highly recommended for the confinement month. Two essential items I got from Madam Partum for the first month of my confinement are herbal tea and herbal bath.
Confinement Herbal Tea
Confinement tingkat food usually provides two cups of red dates per meal. Hence, four cups to last you an entire day. But if you are not ordering tingkat food, then you have to prepare your own red dates tea. In this case, getting them from Madam Partum will lessen preparation work.
Madam Partum’s 28-Day confinement tea package (S$138) are conveniently packed into 28 packets. So like the confinement herbal soup, it’s simply tearing a packet a day to boil the tea for a whole day’s consumption. Remember to get a hot flask to store the day’s worth of boiled tea. This way, you can easily pour the tea whenever you want to drink throughout the day.
The red dates herbs are to be boiled with 1 litre of water. This is not enough if you are replacing water with red dates tea throughout your confinement month. However, you should still drink water and not entirely red dates tea. I have checked with a TCM physician and he said that nothing can replace water. So drink water to hydrate yourself.
Unlike in most medicinal halls, Madam Partum will pack for you two types of specially formulated confinement herbal tea. You can identify the two types by the different types of herbs — one has Dang Shen (党参), a stick-like herb, and the other packet has Bei Qi (北芪) and wolfberries/goji berries (枸杞).
A tip, put in the wolf berries during the last 5 minutes of boiling. Some mothers boil the herbs in thermal pot and before they drink, add in the wolf berries and boil again.
The herbal tea, which includes red dates, nourishes blood, replenishes energy, and boosts immunity. Suitable for mummies who went through either natural or caesarean birth. Red dates tea may even boost breast milk production for some mummies.
I could taste the difference for the two herbs. One tasted more herbal than the other. Both tasted healthier in a nice subtle way because it’s less sweet than those provided in my tingkat meals.
Confinement Herbal Bath
There are quite a few confinement myths challenged by lack of scientific research, such as “I am not allowed to bathe or touch water for fear of ‘wind’ entering the body.”, and “I can only wash my hair with water in which ginger has been boiled.”
From Western medical point of view, there’s no basis to these beliefs. In fact, as quoted, “bathing regularly ensures good personal hygiene and comfort. It reduces the incidence of skin and wound infections.”
Personally I’m a biggie on hygiene even pre-babies days — no one’s getting on my bed without showering. Moreover, I love a good shower before sleep. Yet, I am wondering if there’s some truth in the age old practice of not touching water. So to get the best of both worlds, I decided to shower using water boiled with the herbs from Madam Partum’s 28-Day confinement herbal bath (S$78).
The herbs is said to expel dampness and wind, improves overall blood circulation, and prevent or relieve rheumatic conditions and post-natal discomfort. Like the herbal soups and tea, Madam Partum’s shower herbs is pre-packed into 28 packets for daily shower.
Holistic Confinement
As a summary, Madam Partum’s 28-Day herbal treatment course includes: Herbal Soup (S$258); Herbal Tea (S$138), and Herbal Bath (S$78).
Madam Partum provides holistic care for mummies, making sure mummies are well cared for at every stage of pregnancy and parenting journey. Other than prepartum and postpartum massages and confinement care products as , there are also post-partum services such as lactation massage, and childbirth education.
You can also pamper your body with Madam Partum’s prepartum and postpartum massage sessions too. It has worked hard for the pregnancy and childbirth! Check out their body-sculpting corset too.
Madam Partum has an enticing Holistic Postpartum Package of S$1,799* that covers most aspects of confinement care:
Madam Partum’s Promotion and Info
Promotion
Quote “JoogoStyle” to enjoy 10% off the 28-day confinement soup, tea or/and bath (U.P. $258, $138, and $78). Purchase these products online and have them delivered to you! Purchase over S$150 to get free delivery, unless you stay at Sentosa (S$5 surcharge).
Terms and Conditions:
- Valid from 1 May to 31 December 2020.
- All prices quoted are inclusive of GST.
- Not valid with other discounts/promotions.
- Services sold are non-refundable and non-exchangeable for cash/products or other services.
Madam Partum Info
- Email: [email protected]
- Tel: +65 66 633 933
- WhatsApp: +65 8166 0060 / +65 8166 0070
- Hours: 10am – 9pm (Mon – Fri); 10am – 6pm (Sat – Sun, PH)
- Website: www.madampartum.com
- Social Media: www.facebook.com/madampartum; www.instagram.com/madam.partum (@madam.partum)
- 10 Outlets: www.madampartum.com/contact.asp
- Madam Partum: Tanjong Katong
- Madam Partum (Chien Chi Tow): Ang Mo Kio, Bedok, Bendemeer, Chinatown (People’s Park Centre), Jurong East, Redhill, Tampines, Yishun (Chong Pang City)
- Home services available (additional charge)
My experience with Madam Partum:
Disclosure: This is an editorial review. I was sponsored the products and was not paid for publishing my experience with this service. All opinions are of my own and are genuine.