LESSONS LEARNED
DURING MY MONTH OF ZUO YUEZI By Dr. Lynn Tran McDonald “Aren’t you going to sit in the back of the car with your son?” asks my midwife. Two hours had passed since my son Rivers was born. I was feeling high from the strange mixture of endorphins of the excitement of the delivery and pure physical exhaustion from pushing. I had grown familiar carrying a solid baby boy in my womb for nine months. However, the familiar movements of him kicking and shifting inside me were gone. My belly felt limp, hollow, and empty. The lower half of my torso to my feet simply felt foreign to me. “Aren’t you going to sit in the back of the car with your son?” asks my midwife, again. I was getting ready to sit in the front passenger seat of my car. I have a son! I realized as I scrambled to make my way to the back seat of the car. Do all moms always sit in the back of the car with their little ones? I had been so fixated on delivering my son for nine months, I never truly grasped the degree of change I would experience in my life after the delivery. I no longer just had me to think about anymore. There was a small, fragile human being now that depended on me. This raw and loud realization would take me days to grasp. I remember the distinct moment when I
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March 2020 | Health
truly felt the immense welling of undying love that moms describe when they first meet their babies--- except I didn’t experience this until a few days later after his birth. Up until then, I was consumed with the exhaustion following the delivery. My sleep deprivation that was compounding quickly as Rivers was already proving that he did not like to sleep through the night. To pee felt like an excruciating, knife-stabbing like ordeal. Nursing for the first two days was extremely stressful. I was filled with frustration, shame, and worry because I was not producing sufficient amounts of milk to feed my boy, and he had lost weight the first two days. I had been fixated on the delivery of my son, but I was not mentally prepared for the reality of suddenly being a mom. Because of the emotional place I was at, I’m grateful to have the period of zuo yuezi to hold space for my recovery and transition. Zuo yuezi is an over a century-old postpartum confinement practice from China, meaning “sitting one month.” It is meant to help women recover from birth and focus on nourishing the newborn. Based on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), where a person’s lifeforce relies on the balance of yin and yang, it is crucial for mothers to
stay warm for the first 30 days post-birth. Specifically, it is preventing mothers from possible exposure of wind or coldness of any kind. It is believed that a mother loses lifeforce (chi) during the delivery due to the loss of blood, causing her body to go into a state of too cold (yin). This can cause stress in her body, rendering her more susceptible to illness and premature aging. Hence the practice of zuo yuezi involves extremes such as staying indoors while avoiding any form of air conditioning; avoid all raw and cold foods; avoid bathing for extended days; and continually wear long clothing regardless of season or weather; and avoiding physical exertion. During zuo yuezi, female family members support all of the new mother’s needs, such as taking care of laundry, cleaning, and childcare of older kids. They would also oversee the preparation of energy and protein-rich dishes to help nourish the new mom. Ingredients in these special dishes are intentionally chosen to help shrink the uterus, help the perineum to heal, and to increase breastmilk production. Cultural versions of postpartum confinement span across Asia, the Middle East, Latin American, Africa, as well as Native American and European cultures. In Japan,
