What is swaddling a woman after. The procedure for swaddling a woman after childbirth: restoring the psychophysical state of the mother

Exciting nine months are behind us; the long-awaited meeting with the newborn has finally taken place. While carrying a precious baby, the expectant mother was detached from the outside world, listening to her inner feelings, and devoted most of her time to taking care of herself. Now you need to quickly change your mind, turning your attention to the baby. Caring for children in the first year of life requires a lot of effort, and therefore the mother needs to recover as quickly as possible.

Childbirth is over, and now a woman needs to take care of her health

Our contemporaries know much more about pregnancy and child care than about methods of postpartum recovery. We are talking not only about physical recovery, but also psychological. A new mother may experience a wide range of negative feelings, such as fear, guilt in front of the child, self-doubt, and anxiety.

Some mothers, taking into account the characteristics of the body and psyche, may require more serious measures than gymnastics and wearing a bandage. What did our ancestors do when they couldn’t buy a corset and a gym membership? Moreover, in ancient times there was no such thing as maternity leave. Having given birth to a child, the mother soon had to return to work. The life of village women was very difficult, and moreover, most often, they had a lot of children. Postpartum swaddling helped our great-great-grandmothers recover.

As you know, everything new is well forgotten old. Currently, postpartum swaddling has become widespread in the world, the techniques of which have come down to us from time immemorial. Swaddling methods vary depending on national traditions and area of residence.

Types of swaddling after childbirth

During swaddling, the woman was wrapped in rebozo - a special cloth

Let's look at three types of swaddling that are used in Russia today:

Mexican technique or rebozo. Currently, this is the most popular method of swaddling a woman after childbirth in the world. How did this happen in Mexico in ancient times? A week after the birth of the child, a procedure was carried out, which consisted of warming the mother’s body in a temazcal, light massage and swaddling a rebozo. Temazcal is the national Mexican bathhouse, literally translated as “house of hot stones.” The bathhouse was traditionally used for rituals of physical and spiritual cleansing. Rebozo is a traditional Mexican sling made of self-woven material, which has long been used by women not only for carrying babies and as a piece of clothing, but also for recovery after childbirth (more details in the article:). Currently, an analogue of Temazcal is often a bath with the addition of herbs. As for the rebozo, you can purchase it or sew it yourself.
A modern method of postpartum swaddling of a woman. Midwife Alena Lebedeva developed a method of swaddling after childbirth, based on Mexican swaddling traditions. Having studied the rebozo method, the midwife adapted its approach to Russian women in labor. Modern swaddling helps to avoid many complications: lochiometers, inflammation of the endometrium, discrepancy of the pubic symphysis, stagnation of milk in the chest, hemorrhoids and constipation, difficulty urinating, lower back pain. This procedure is carried out a week after giving birth naturally and two weeks after a cesarean section (more details in the article:). The event consists of two parts. First, to achieve a steaming and softening effect, a bath and herbal teas are used. Next, each of the eight zones of the mother’s body - head, shoulders, ribs, pelvis, hips, calves, feet - is tightened for 8 minutes. The tightening force is determined by the woman.
Slavic method of swaddling after childbirth. This method is in many ways similar to the rebozo technique. Postpartum weaving has a special religious meaning and a number of technical aspects.

Before swaddling the rebozo, the woman was warmed up in a special stone bath called a temazcal.

Old Slavonic traditions of weaving

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In ancient times, women gave birth at home, or, if the family was very large, they went to the midwife. Pregnancy and childbirth have always been carefully hidden from prying eyes. The midwife was always invited secretly.
Weaving is interesting for its many ritual actions, ritual spells and chants, unity with the forces of nature, especially with Mother Earth. This procedure is aimed at collecting a woman after childbirth, returning her body and psyche to its previous state, and freeing her mind. For some women, it's about re-emerging as a mother or a way to end a previous birth in order to become ready to become a mother again.
After childbirth, mother and child were placed in a bathhouse, where the midwife “ruled and got along” with them. The midwife corrected the shape of the newborn’s head, arms and legs, and the mother’s belly, returning the uterus to its place and straightening the navel.
Weaving had a tonic effect on a woman’s body, helping to restore expended energy, as well as restore slimness and elasticity. For several days or even weeks, the midwife lived with the woman, watching over her while caring for the child.
Who is the midwife?
We have all heard the word “midwife” at one time or another. There are other names - “midwife”, “navel cutter”, “steam room”. Most of us believe that this was the name given to the grandmother who delivered the baby. This is generally true, however, the midwife had to not only give birth, but also care for the mother and child.

The midwife took birth, performed rituals, and then helped the woman in labor
In addition to the physical, there was a spiritual component to the nodding ritual. Traditionally, it was believed that the woman and child were especially vulnerable at first. Until now, our grandmothers advise not to show the newborn to strangers until 40 days have passed in order to avoid the influence of negative energy. That is why not only experience was important, but also the moral and ethical character of the midwife. She had to lead a decent life. The main qualities were responsibility and delicacy. Only such a person could be trusted with the lives of mother and child, as well as family secrets. After giving birth, the midwife became a very close person in the family and was present at all family celebrations.
A midwife is a believing woman who has her own, healthy and beautiful children. Our ancestors firmly believed that the qualities of a midwife’s children could be passed on to the newborn whom she helped to be born. The midwife had to be a widow or a married woman past childbearing age. In the villages she enjoyed special honor and respect. The knowledge of the midwife was considered secret. People believed that by sharing sacred knowledge, they could lose it. Midwives accumulated and passed on invaluable experience from generation to generation. The grandmother carefully chose one of her daughters or relatives. From adolescence, the girl helped the midwife deliver babies.
“7 locks” technique
The midwife hovered over the woman in labor and closed the birth using the “7 locks” technique. Its essence is this: first, the woman is helped to relax and warm up with the help of a bath, herbal and oil massage, and teas with the addition of herbs. An element such as crying is also important - a woman must cry during the procedure and talk about her experiences during childbirth. This helps normalize hormonal levels.

A bath with massage, herbal tea and swaddling restores a woman’s strength after childbirth
After the bath, the woman is placed on a hard surface, 7 zones are tightened - 7 parts of the body (head, shoulders, stomach, pelvis, thighs, legs and feet). After the birth, the mother is warmly covered and allowed to sleep.
Immediately after giving birth, a woman is often euphoric thanks to the endorphins that are released in the body. After five days, the hormones disappear and the woman may suddenly feel pain, fatigue, anxiety and discomfort. Warmth, relaxation, and care from others will help improve the mother’s psycho-emotional state.
The most important stage of swaddling is returning the uterus to its place. Only through active physical exercise will the uterus be able to take the desired position after childbirth. Visceral (Old Slavonic) massage will help put the uterus in place while the ligaments, under the influence of the hormone relaxin, are still too elastic. After a woman sweats in the bath, the ligaments will lose their elasticity. Thanks to this, a lasting therapeutic effect will be ensured.
Swaddling occurs in a bathhouse or at home and takes from four to six hours. At this time, the newborn can be close to his mother, under the supervision of a loved one.
The procedure is carried out either by two midwives, or by a midwife with an assistant. At the end, hands are washed. This is an Old Slavonic rite of farewell to a woman in labor and a midwife, during which women wash each other’s hands, kiss, and the midwife receives gifts.

After all the procedures performed, the woman feels extraordinary euphoria.
The main tasks of swaddling a woman in labor
In addition to the functions of visceral massage and the prevention of postpartum depression that we have already discussed, swaddling solves the following problems:
Changing motor stereotypes. During pregnancy, a woman's posture, gait and movements change. If during pregnancy the center of gravity changes gradually, then after childbirth it changes so sharply that the brain does not have time to restructure. You can solve the problem with deep relaxation. It is achieved by creating a favorable psychological environment, slowly warming up the body and subsequent compression massage.
Rejuvenation of the body. Warming up, massage and stretching the body speed up metabolism and stimulate hematopoiesis.
Cleansing the body. By accelerating the outflow of lymph, massage helps remove toxins from the body.
Figure restoration. With the help of swaddling after childbirth, the body gets rid of excess fluid, swelling disappears, and body volume decreases (see also:).
Improved peristalsis. After childbirth, a woman often experiences difficulty going to the toilet. This is due to the fact that the intestinal muscles are in reduced tone. Heat, eliminating displacement of internal organs and herbal teas will help get rid of this problem.
Stimulation of blood microcirculation. Swaddling helps improve the function of small blood vessels, which gives rest to the heart.
Ventilation of the lungs. During the procedure, the chest is alternately tightened in two places, which makes it possible to effectively use the breathing of the lower and then the upper parts. This makes it possible to properly ventilate the respiratory system.
Correct placement of the pelvic bones. During childbirth, the pelvic bones move. Subsequently, many mothers suffer from pain in the pelvic joints. Disjunction of the symphysis pubis may occur. Swaddling helps get rid of these problems, as well as vaginal swelling and postpartum hemorrhoids.
Prevention of milk stagnation in the breast. Correct positioning of internal organs during swaddling will help a woman avoid pre-mastitis conditions.

Postpartum swaddling (swaddling) with closure of labor is what I know how to do and love very much. With every twist you become stronger and wiser. And now about what it is and for those who have never heard of it.

The topic is interesting and relevant for the present time, since very few women know about these procedures and even fewer use them. Many people ask: “What is the correct way to: wrapping or swaddling? I will answer: “There are several ways. The terms are not that important. I will describe those that I know, their features and differences.”

Postpartum swaddling (swaddling) is a set of measures to restore a woman after childbirth.
I know that in Russia they are now actively practicing three types of postpartum recovery for a woman:
- Slavic rite of postpartum oblivion (I own it),
- postpartum swaddling,
- Mexican rebozo technique.
In general, all small nations have techniques for postpartum recovery; they have survived to this day and have their own characteristics depending on nationality and place of residence.

Modern swaddling

Postpartum swaddling was invented by midwife Alena Lebedeva. This is a more medical procedure, including some osteopathic and visceral massage techniques, as well as some techniques from the Mexican tradition of postpartum recovery.

Mexican technology

In Mexico, the traditions of postpartum recovery for women are very well preserved and now many doulas and midwives go to this warm country to the famous midwives Angelina Martinez Miranda and Naoli Vinaver.

Angelina is a fourth-generation Mexican midwife who has been delivering babies for over 40 years, combining the wisdom of folk tradition and modern knowledge of clinical obstetrics.
Rebozo (a long self-woven stole) in Mexico is used at all stages of pregnancy and after childbirth. They carry out swaddling either in a bathtub or in a temazcal. Temazcal is a traditional Mexican stone bath. Literally translated, this is “house of hot stones.”
In this video, Mexican midwives perform labor closure. A strong technique that affects sensations, emotions and experiences in completely different ways for everyone.

Postpartum weaving

Slavic method of postpartum weaving, which I practice as a student of the famous midwife Yulia Shelepina, is slightly similar to the Mexican tradition, but differs from the previous ones in the content of the spiritual component and in some aspects of its implementation. The origins of this method of postpartum recovery for women are from the Russian northern tradition.
Yulia ShelepinA— ethnographer, psychologist, midwife, instructor in preparation for natural childbirth (over 17 years of experience).

Weaving- this is a thoughtful physiological effect on a woman in labor that has come down to us from our ancestors with the goal of her speedy recovery. It is designed to return the woman’s wasted energy and help the body regain tone, and the body become elastic and slender.

Everything about obedience is interesting: ritual songs, sacred numbers, and connections with all the elements of nature and especially Mother Earth.

Postpartum weaving in its essence, it collects a woman after childbirth - body, psyche, emotions, and frees the mind. This is also another way to manage a woman’s life associated with motherhood. For some, this is a new birth of oneself as a mother and a readiness to become a mother again, since the end of the previous birth has been set.

Traditions of postpartum recovery for women

At the word midwife many immediately understand that this is some elderly woman, often a grandmother, who is delivering a baby in the village. This is true, however, the main purpose of the midwife’s work was not only to assist in childbirth, but also to provide subsequent care for the woman in labor and the newborn child. After childbirth, the midwife “ruled and got along” with the woman in labor and the newborn. And she did all this in the bathhouse. Let us now omit all the activities that the midwife carried out with the baby and only touch on the care of the woman in labor.
In the bathhouse the midwife ruled over the woman in labor, namely:
- put my stomach in place,
- straightened the navel,
— corrected the spool (uterus), which moves during childbirth,
— soared,
- closed the birth.
The work of a midwife has always had not only a physiological, but also a spiritual aspect.

Midwife:
is a believer, with high moral and ethical principles of life,
- a delicate person who can be trusted with the most intimate, knowing that he will keep all family secrets.
- a person who accurately and steadily fulfills his duties, aware of the responsibility and consequences of his actions.

In many cultures, it is believed that after childbirth a woman is very open and you need to carefully monitor what people and what energies can be allowed to her. Therefore, it is advised to communicate less with strangers and show the child during the first 40 days. According to tradition, it was during this period that all the main restorative procedures after childbirth took place and by the 40th day after childbirth they were closed.

Postpartum swaddling (swaddling) with closure of labor immediately after birth (9, 40 days) helps a woman remove her worries and move from the state of pregnancy to a new state of motherhood. After all, after the birth of a child, a woman’s task changes - during pregnancy she was carrying a child, and her attention was directed inward, and she took care of herself, and through herself, about the child. And after giving birth, the child became separate from her, with his own needs, and she needs to restructure herself, redirect her attention outward - to the child, and rebuild her family’s lifestyle. When closing labor, the “7 locks” technique is used.

The traditional way of restoring a woman in labor: the woman was first helped to relax, warm up inside and out, herbal massage, crying of the woman in labor, oil massage, twisting, then closing the labor (the body was tightened in certain places to release the tension that could have accumulated there during pregnancy and childbirth). Tension is various grievances, experiences associated with pregnancy and childbirth, something unsaid or unspoken. A lot of energy is spent on experiencing these situations over and over again.

The bobbing procedure takes place mainly in a bathhouse (at home is also an option) and takes 4-6 hours. During this time, the baby can be next to his mother, but under the supervision of another woman (grandmother, friend). A woman in labor is treated by two midwives or a midwife and an assistant. At the end of the process, a ritual of hand washing is performed between the midwife and the woman.

Postpartum weaving later (1 - 40 years after birth) gives a woman the opportunity to PLEASE live and let go of childbirth, and move into a new state - HARMONIOUS and holistic, at all levels: physical body, subtle body, psyche, emotions, mind.

Experience shows that there are women who, having closed one of their many births, immediately want to come and close the next ones. They seem to miss these sensations, and strive to quickly become holistic and harmonious. But, still, it’s worth waiting a little and allowing the new to become permanent and unchanging in your life.

Glad to be useful to everyone who is interested postpartum midwifery and closure of childbirth in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region, By agreement, I am leaving for another city. I help women process and overcome perinatal losses. I practice fertility tricks. More and more convinced that this is extremely useful and necessary for all women.

My website on bodily and energy techniques in the Russian tradition http://slavpovivanie.ru

I will answer any questions regarding the connections indicated in the section

And about the swaddling itself. Before reading the text further, I recommend that you read the description of the “procedure” http://www.midwifery.ru/st/poslerodovoe_pelenanie.htm
When I read about him, I constantly came across one angle: body, body, body... The sensations became better, something stopped hurting, the stomach got rid of, or that nothing had changed, the procedure did not help.
Julia told us, of course, that this is essentially body-oriented therapy, that the psychological state improves, and that postpartum depression is less common, etc. However, immediately Yulia Morozova and Alena Kovalevskaya, when asked whether it is effective to swaddle a woman who has given birth a long time ago, answer that in such cases they do everything except tug, saying there is no point, the hormonal background is different, nothing will change. Nothing will change about what?
And the article, the link to which I gave above, also sins by focusing on the physical state.

But I, who have long been interested in the topic of transitions, saw a lot of other things in the “procedure”, which, as it turned out, were not obvious to other participants. Postpartum swaddling is a real transition, thoughtful, with a whole system of insurance against “it won’t work out.”
Transition is a fairly quick and very deep change of state. And the main task of swaddling, in my opinion, is to help a woman move from the state of pregnancy and childbirth to the state of the mother of a born child, and not only physically.

Let me remind you that initiation transitions have three stages:
- dying in the same social quality
- the stage of timelessness, interworldliness, when the initiate belongs rather to the world of the dead
- birth into a new social quality.
(see http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Initiation “Structure of Ritual”)

The three most important transitions that even in our strange world continue to be celebrated are birth, wedding and death. Everywhere the key figure is a passive creature, he is stripped (that is, deprived of one of the important signs of belonging to the world of people), washed, swaddled, and all actions are performed for him (the bride in a traditional wedding is washed in a bathhouse, dressed in a wedding dress, which symbolizes shroud, lead her by the arms, speak for her). Then they dress them in clothes characteristic of their new status and honor them in their new capacity.
As a result of a transition (for example, age-related) to a new life, the experience of the previous stage is taken, but the experiences are not taken.

Experiences are memories, but special ones. Remember something pleasant: the images that pop up look rather dull compared to the world around us, we can easily stop remembering and do something else. In the experience, the images from the memory look very clear, while the surrounding world is seen dimly, and it is not so easy to get out of the experience. You can spend many hours arguing with the person who offended you, without really seeing those who surround you here and now. This happens because strength, our strength, is collected in the images of experience, and, immersed in experiences, we give it away again and again. As a result of the transition, experiences cease to be such and become ordinary controlled memories.

I remember spending a lot of time for about six months after my first birth worrying about my pregnancy and the birth that went wrong. I had to recover myself, take care of my son, and I put half of my energy into worrying about the past, which cannot be corrected. And there is a dependence, the more difficult the birth, the more experiences and at the same time the more effort you need to invest in restoring yourself and the child.
After six months, I seemed to be released. But only when Goshka was three years old did I become interested in the topic of transitions and rituals, found information on the “washing of hands” ritual, met with the doctor who delivered my son, and conducted a small but important part of the ritual, when we looked into each other’s eyes, hugged, and sincerely asked each other for forgiveness, and I gave a gift, only after that I felt that everything had passed. I didn’t care what happened during pregnancy, how the birth went. I stopped looking back there completely, although I can calmly tell how things happened, but in a detached way, as if I was talking about something I read or heard. And the change of state occurred quite quickly. Only after this I realized that the strength continued to flow into the experience throughout all three years, it just began to happen less clearly, as usual, but there was a hole, and then it was gone.

With the second birth there was a similar story, but not so burdensome. Even though I gave birth alone, there was a woman with whom I consulted. And although the experience I gained is priceless, and I have never regretted anything over the past year or 4, I realized that from time to time my thoughts return to the figure of that woman. It didn’t take much effort, but I contacted her, we carried out a ceremony of washing our hands, and everything closed right there. Now I remember that it is there, but I don’t remember it every day in connection with my birth.

And I see how women around me continue to stew in worries about childbirth, how, instead of thinking about her husband and children, she immediately returns there, willingly telling everyone who is ready to listen how she gave birth. And even if the birth was ideal, there are still experiences associated with the previous 9 months. And it seems that these experiences have no statute of limitations. My mother gave birth to both me and my sister essentially alone, in the prenatal department, but even now she talks about some moments very vividly, too vividly for ordinary memories. Probably, these experiences fell on a par with other experiences, but this did not stop them from happening. And the notorious oxytocin effect, when a woman after childbirth cannot remember simple things, like the title of her thesis written the day before, seems unable to cope with her emotions.

Our ancestors understood this very well. The midwife was called to attend the birth if a woman was giving birth for the first time or if something went wrong. But the midwife always hovered over the woman in labor, ruled her body, ruled the child, and then there was a ritual of washing away her hands. And before I perceived this action as follows: warming up and editing - separately, washing out the hands - separately, as if one for the body, the other for the head. After I saw swaddling and took part in it myself, I realized that the body and head are one at all stages.

What I saw:
1. Survey, a woman is asked about her condition and, based on the results, spices for the drink and aromatic oil are selected. This gives her the opportunity to understand her feelings and talk out her pain.

2. Massage allows you to first feel the body. Our bodies completely yearned for the hands of another person. All primates touch each other a lot: petting, hugging, fingering each other's hair. About 100 years ago, our ancestors easily got along and ruled each other, which is why part of our hand is called the PALM. Bathhouse, brooms once a week and an extraordinary bathhouse on the occasion of arrival, illness or other event, and childbirth was such an event. And now, even without childbirth, we often don’t feel our bodies. Massage makes it possible to feel the body, its new boundaries and feel where there are tensions that are associated with feelings. When working with tension, you can reach out to the experiences that caused it, moan, speak them out and remove tense places in the body.
Those. There is a two-way movement in working with pain: through memories and through the body. And here comes the second stage of transition. Through spoken and experienced pain, a woman dies as a pregnant woman and a woman in labor.

3. During the first two stages, a woman prepares for the second stage of transition: the loss of social status and, in essence, human status. The rules of society stop working for her. She calmly exposes herself in front of people whom she would have recently been shy about. The massage has already transferred her into the passive state of an object with which something is being done, and now she is immersed in a bath with herbs and remains alone for some time. After 15 min. the next stage begins: she is relaxed and is massaged, turned over (like a newborn or a deceased person). They lubricate the skin with a scrub, which on the one hand can be considered as a cosmetic procedure, but on the other hand it is the removal of old skin.

4. The woman is wrapped in a warm towel or robe, transferred to the bed and wrapped in 7-8 layers of fabric. Then her body is anointed with oil with the addition of pleasant aromas for her and kept warm (woolen socks on her feet, a hat on her head).

5. The important stage of body tugging begins (see article). I see here the peak stage of dying: anointed, relaxed, wrapped in shrouds and tightened. At the same time, a woman can immerse herself in herself and sleep on some tours, but on others she can become very animated and give out new portions of experiences, or simply chat about trifles.

6. Sleep or rest, when a woman spends 4 hours in bed hugging her child, resting and coming to her senses.

My additions, from the point of view. transition, how to enhance the effect.

During transitions, clothing is important as a symbol of social status. I would ask the woman to greet the swaddlers in the clothes that she wore during pregnancy, closer to childbirth and which she is ready to part with.

So that she prepares completely new, never worn clothes that she will wear after swaddling. Symbol of the mother's new status.

I would pay more attention to the questioning stage, even if everything is clear with the choice of spices and oils, it is important, when asking questions to a woman, to let her realize her feelings and speak out. Some of the pain from the experience will go away at this stage.

Before going to the bath, you can organize a ritual of washing your hands (naturally, having previously explained to the woman what it is and how it is done). It is not always possible to go back and find that same doctor or anesthesiologist or someone else who really caught your attention and the memories of whom haunt you, and the words spoken by this person are constantly remembered. I have seen more than once how Arida on Patterns solved such problems with the help of a deputy in the arrangement. Or you can use a mask; in Baskakovka we acted out a masquerade “matchmaking between a heron and a crane.” It’s an interesting state, I know who is hiding behind the mask, but I don’t perceive it, I communicate with the mask. I think the mask is good if a woman is against the arrangement method (and this happens). And for her it is important to see that person, tell him what was not said, ask for forgiveness and receive his forgiveness.

Well, in the transition there is an obligatory stage of completion - honoring the initiate in a new capacity. But here it turns out that they left the woman, told her to lie down for 4 hours and that’s it. Hello family. There must definitely be a holiday, even if not a stormy one, only with family members, but it is important that the woman, after 4 hours of lying in bed, dresses up in a new dress, and with the child in her arms leaves the room to another room, where the festive table is set and she is greeted with greetings and Congratulations from family and close friends. This is the logic of the rite of passage: she went through pregnancy, through childbirth, she did it and now she is the one who will raise and care for the already born child, this is worth celebrating.

And a couple more words about those who carry out swaddling (again from the perspective of transition). There is a rule that only someone who is already there can lead you into a new world. At a minimum, this is the world of the living, and if those who carry out swaddling themselves are not entirely alive (in Wedgenov’s terms, frozen, mermaids and other undead) or are now experiencing not the best stage in life, sadness, depression, etc. I’m afraid that the third stage of a woman’s transition may not take place or may be blurred.

Yes, the transition implies the second stage of dying, i.e. passivity, and there must be a figure of the one who performs the ritual. In my opinion, for swaddling to be successful, it is important to create this special space of ritual, when the busy world around is forgotten and only the central figure remains - the woman in transition. There, it turns out that they speak in a whisper and try to be quiet so as not to wake up the baby, but I clearly felt a change in space, very similar to what I experience if I happen to go to Mass in a church, also the feeling of a ritual taking place, a miracle taking place. And those who swaddle are likened to guides, priestesses, on whom it largely depends whether this space of transition, sacrament will turn out, or whether everything will come down to a spa procedure.

I hope I was able to convey the beauty and logic of postpartum swaddling that I saw. And I believe that swaddling in its full form is necessary for any woman who has given birth, no matter how much time has passed after childbirth. In order to close the hole where strength flows and as an important stage in preparation for conception in the end, so that in a new pregnancy and childbirth the unresolved experiences of the past do not arise.

After giving birth, a woman passes forever to her new state. Her body is changing and just the first time after childbirth (the fifth or sixth day) is the most optimal time for postpartum swaddling of a woman, which in ancient times helped mothers in labor restore their strength and health. What does postpartum swaddling mean?

Previously, in Rus', swaddling meant for a woman to visit the bathhouse at least three times in order to regain all her strength, achieve rapid contraction of the uterus and normalization of discharge. Nowadays, postpartum swaddling means accepting:

massage treatments;
rubbing with herbal oils;
warming up with bath or water heat;
drinking warm drinks, infusions, decoctions.

A woman who has given birth is busy with the baby for the first 24 hours, and the first three days pass while waiting for the milk to come in, so postpartum swaddling is best started after moving home from the maternity hospital room, that is, around day 4-5.

A woman needs to prepare the warmest possible bath and make a warm spicy or herbal drink to effectively warm up all the deep tissues. When all the muscles are relaxed and warm enough, you can proceed to the massage procedure. Massage promotes even greater relaxation, improvement of metabolism, lymphatic drainage, blood flow, internal organs return to their usual position as before pregnancy, the uterus contracts, and the stomach goes away. After relaxation procedures, which are best done with the use of essential oils, herbal infusions, creams, masks to enhance the effect, the swaddling itself is carried out: eight zones of the woman’s body are tightened with a long towel:

feet;
head;
stomach;
shoulders;
hips;
rib cage;
shin.

It’s good if after such a contraction a woman can fall asleep and spend at least 4 hours in this state. If you need to feed the baby, this can be done at any time, since postpartum swaddling is carried out in the presence of the newborn, so that both feel closeness, you just need to hand the baby to the mother for feeding. The procedure for this wrap lasts up to 8 hours, although less is possible.

What benefits does postpartum swaddling give to a woman?

The benefits of such swaddling are felt by a woman after the first session. There is an improvement in the condition in the following parameters:

the dynamic way of movement of the woman is restored, that is, the previous center of gravity is restored, the woman stops moving, as during pregnancy, her gait is restored;
the former elasticity of body tissues returns, they become less elastic, and therefore muscle tone improves;
stimulation of the hematopoietic organs occurs (after all, a lot of blood is lost during childbirth);
Toxins and waste are actively removed from the body through the sebaceous and sweat glands;
swelling of the limbs is eliminated;
postpartum depression is prevented;
until the bones are restored to their previous state and have not taken on irregular shapes, this process is stimulated from the outside, that is, the figure is effectively corrected;

the functioning of the body returns to normal.

After childbirth, women are looking for ways to recover quickly. In modern life, there is no time to lie for weeks and wait for the body to return to normal. We have to take care of the baby, some have homework to do, and some have business to do. At one time in Rus', midwives took care of childbirth. They wrapped the mothers in wet cloth, laid them on the stove, and in the morning they got up refreshed.

It was the midwifery of women in labor that gave the name to the specialists. It turned out that the old traditions are not so ancient. Today in Russia there is a fashion for women's postpartum swaddling. This procedure is loved, but it has also acquired numerous myths, which we will debunk.

Anyone can do postpartum swaddling. In fact, this procedure will require knowledge of physiology, anatomy, the ability to do massage, the basics of herbal medicine and aromatherapy. Behind a seemingly simple procedure lies labor and knowledge. If an amateur tries to do postpartum swaddling, it will be just a spa procedure, and nothing more.

This procedure is real magic. If a woman expects miracles from such swaddling, then she should turn not to obstetricians, but to wizards. This procedure does not produce results from scratch; it works with the body’s reserves. Many mothers dream that swaddling will allow them to lose several kilograms, narrow their waist, make their stomachs flat, and their skin less flabby. Everyone wants such miracles, but the weight loss is only 1-2 kilograms, and only due to liquid. If you eat a heavy meal after the procedure, you may not see the desired effect at all. Yes, you can lose a couple of centimeters in your waist, hips and stomach. But don’t expect to fit into your pre-pregnancy pants after swaddling. You can’t get rid of extra pounds (sometimes a dozen) so quickly. It all depends on the woman herself. Swaddling will tighten a saggy tummy and reduce diastasis. Of course, sometimes women reasonably object that this will happen anyway. But recovery processes after childbirth sometimes take months and years. And postpartum swaddling will allow you to return to your former shape much faster.

This procedure has an esoteric basis. The principles of swaddling as a postpartum recovery procedure are based solely on physiology. Everything here is clear in principle, there is no magical background. The body warms up, starting the sweating process. Together with sweat, the hormone relaxin is actively excreted. It is this that causes relaxation of the ligaments of the pubic joint of the pelvic bones during pregnancy. This expands the pelvis, facilitating normal labor. Relaxin not only affects the ligaments in the pelvis, but also relaxes other muscles and ligaments. This is exactly what specialists use - after relaxing the muscles and resting them, you need to wait for the release of the hormone, then tighten the body as tightly as possible to consolidate the result.

Swaddling is essentially an accelerated recovery. If you prepare the body in a special way, the body can be made very pliable and distortions in it can be removed. You can straighten even a curved pelvis and ease the deflections in the spine. Without swaddling this did not happen by itself. Exercise can help, but the postpartum period is a rather difficult time for a woman. During this period, physical activity is not recommended. Swaddling, which is a therapeutic procedure, comes to the rescue. It is well known that not everyone needs treatment. So you shouldn’t swaddle everything. If a woman is not sure that she needs this, she should not follow fashion or the example of her friend.

Thanks to swaddling, all organs will fall into place. It is worth knowing that swaddling is just one of the restorative postpartum procedures. But you can expect that the functioning of the genitourinary organs will improve and urinary incontinence will go away only in combination with correct behavior throughout the entire postpartum period. In the first days, you need to stay in bed, tie up your stomach for the first few weeks, and do postpartum gymnastics. And even then the result will not come immediately - you will have to wait. Only after a few months will the woman understand that her body has already fully recovered from childbirth. And swaddling can be one of the factors on the way to the result.

Swaddling is a common spa procedure. In this case, massage, scrubbing, and herbal baths are actually used. This really has a direct bearing on cosmetology and body care. But these procedures are not carried out on their own, but for the sake of an important goal - warming up the body. In other words, in the swaddling procedure, 80 percent of the time is spent just preparing for it. SPA treatments are also used, because a woman is exhausted after childbirth and has no time for relaxing treatments. Sometimes there is not enough time to wash your hair and do a manicure. And thanks to self-care and care, in a couple of hours you can remember about yourself, feel your body, already focused on the needs of the baby, and just relax. Isn't it wise to devote some time to yourself during this difficult period?

Swaddling works the same on everyone. It was already said above that everything depends on the person himself. Women all give birth differently, and it is logical to assume that recovery will not proceed in the same way. It is also important to note a certain pattern. It turns out that the better a woman knows how to relax, take care of herself, and love herself, the better the result will be. Relaxation is the main point of such a restorative procedure. Another factor influencing the result is behavior after swaddling. There is a big difference between an active life, housework, when time flies unnoticed, and lying motionless for several hours. The help of others is also important. The entire day after swaddling, a woman should be freed from housework, childcare and labor. All this time should be entirely devoted to her rest. This requires the understanding of loved ones who will meekly take on all the household chores for the day.

Thanks to swaddling, labor can be closed. The closure of labor is the feeling that the pregnancy has passed. The woman stops constantly remembering the process of childbirth. Completion is a kind of humility, the realization that everything has already passed. A lot has been written about this, but it is worth understanding that you can only close what was open. If a woman has already discussed everything with her friends, without remembering the birth, then this question is really no longer relevant. Then there will be no way to close the birth from the swaddling process; you should not be upset by the lack of results. It will not be possible to close something if there is some obstacle in the way. If the birth was traumatic or too little time has passed, then the feeling of completion may not come either. Here, too, everything depends on the progress of childbirth and the female psyche. Of course, swaddling will ease your morale, but it will not be able to remove all the accumulated acute emotions at once.

Postpartum swaddling occurs without complications. Experts believe that possible complications after such a procedure may include fever, headache, feeling of weakness, and abdominal pain. Fever is common in women immediately after childbirth, even when the uterus and breasts are in good condition. This phenomenon goes away on its own, you just need to lie down. Swaddling increases the number of women in whom the body governs itself. A headache appears when a woman overheats, which should not be allowed. In this case, a neck massage, an enema before swaddling, warm oil with saffron in the nose, acupressure with “Star” balm, rosemary on the neck and a compress with essential oil help.