Chinese Confinement Nanny Services

The traditional Chinese postnatal confinement or “sitting the month” is usually last for a month or a minimum 28 days. The purpose of having “to be confined” for a month is to restore the mother body after childbirth. As such, a confinement lady or nanny is usually hired to take care of the new mothers’ needs during this confinement period. The service provided by a confinement nanny would normally be 28 days. However, the service can be extended if it is arranged much earlier as these confinement nannies may have other assignments.

During this confinement period, the Chinese confinement nanny will be cooking for the mother, bathing the baby, and care for the baby day and night, and washing the mom and baby clothes. The Chinese confinement lady would also assist the new mother to feed the newborn at night with milk that was milked. Besides, light house chores will be performed by the confinement lady, such as washing the dishes after cooking, sweeping the floor and folding the baby clothing.

The confinement nanny would also provide guidance and supports for breastfeeding mothers during the confinement period. She can provide valuable advice on the DO’s and DON’Ts during confinement, what food to avoid and to consume to increase the amount of breast milk. For instance, consuming fish soup could help to increase the supply of breast milk.

By tradition, the mother is not supposed to wash hair or even bathe during the confinement period. These practices are believed to prevent health problems in old age such as rheumatism, arthritis, headaches and body aches. Washing hair or showering is believed to cause the “Yin coldness” to enter the mother body.  However, in today’s modern context, this practice is unreasonable and can be adjusted.