The Milk

 Breast feeding

 Breast feeding is a mandatory practice in hospitals these days. It is a commendable practice except it was not so highlighted when I had my babies back in the 80s. I must confess my ignorance and failure in helping my daughter in the first few days of the childbirth.
It was a tough decision to make when it came to feeding while waiting for the full flow to come in. The baby cried incessantly from hunger and there was insufficient supply of breast milk.
Emily was lightly jaundiced but enough to undergo photo therapy and in the nursery the nurses had to feed her with formula milk and I was secretly glad. The mother was adamant that it should be full-fledged breast milk; there was always the argument when I suggested that it was acceptable.

But it was truly heart breaking when Emily was fed not through the bottle but tiny cups...imagine a 2 day old baby drinking in that manner. I chose to avoid feeding times as I did not want to witness it.
Coaxing the baby to suckle the mother's breast is a major warfare. The frustration of not being able to get milk must have caused the infant to resist the method. The lactation experts came in to assist and I watched in agony as mother and child fought.
Quietly I observed and recalled days of the past; I was ignorant and dumb then. We followed the trend of formula milk feeding. No fight; just feed and the babies drank. Did I short change them? I must have. But they grew well too? I don't know. I don't want to fight against a losing battle.

So, the confinement time is also learning new practices too. So goes the saying that we learn till old.
As I had never underwent this practice previously, it was with much doubt that I had to listen and follow tales of old. How do we encourage a full flow of milk? Fish and raw papaya.

In Singapore, I had to depend on the neighborhood grocers for help. It was a lonely time and the vendors kept telling me that they do not supply raw papayas. But I could at least get small fresh fishes which I boiled with some ginger. That was the little I could do to quicken a free flow of milk; or did it?

 See the fishes on the left? By the way I added anchovies to make it happen even more ? They told me anything fishy will do fine. When back in Subang Jaya I scoured for raw papayas, fish bones and added herbs. The confinement lady did a great job in serious stewing ! The doctor mama had to comply albeit against her medical training. She grudgingly drank the fishy soup in compliance to previous success stories. All so that Emily had enough milk.

 That stock of milk is evidence of the good practice? Yes, the milk came in full force so much so that they had to be stored up. It was indeed a pleasure and joy to see the supply of milk so well flowed. It was too much for Emily and the mummy is stocking up for future use or to help some other new mothers. In fact, the stock came in to help another new mother who had a jaundiced baby and it was indeed jubilant to come it to help so timely.

So, would you now believe this practice? If you do, spread the news.

 Another practice.

Not to wash hair as long as you can take in.
To bathe in special herbal concoction mixture in the need to remove as much 'air' as there is and this will prevent arthritis in old age. The herbal mixture needed to be boiled before use. I remembered bathing in such liquid but back then it was all leaves. Today it is made easier and neater through this package. Relatively easy to follow a practice.
However as the consequences of this practice can only be seen much later in life, it is not practised strictly by unbelievers. Did my ward follow? You make the good guess.  Not washing hair?

When the last of the umbilical cord detached from the baby after few days, I asked the mother what to do with it. She said "throw". I also defy the instruction and kept it in a secret place.

So, some sharing of the confinement days if they are helping some readers.