Postpartum swaddling of a woman. My impressions

I learned about this practice late in my pregnancy. Surprised that I had not heard anything about swaddling before, I began to collect information. From the few posts and articles that I managed to find, I found out that postpartum swaddling is the restoration of a woman's body after childbirth. Now it’s not customary to talk about the period after childbirth, or rather, about the woman herself in the postpartum period. All the hype around pregnancy, childbirth and, in fact, already around the care of the baby. The mother's condition and her recovery remain behind the scenes.

The social portrait of a modern woman is a strong personality who works almost until the very birth, and then, after the birth of a child, quickly jumps to her feet - her cares are expected by the baby, and the house, and the husband, older children (if any). Particularly brave and still manage to work. They also say about our progenitors that, they say, she mowed, mowed, sat down - gave birth - and ran further.

But is this the way things should be? After all, pregnancy and childbirth, although not a disease, but a colossal work of the body. And so that this very organism does not fail, it needs to recover, rest and reboot.

The procedure and process of swaddling after childbirth

So, in ancient times, women did not run after childbirth to plow further in the field, they were given the opportunity to rest. For 40 days, the young mother regained her strength, enjoying the company of the baby, and relatives and friends took care of household chores. After the birth, the midwives carried out the swaddling (swaddling) of the newly-made mother. And this process is a deep midwifery art.

In Slavic traditions, swaddling included:

1) deep heating of the body from the inside (with the help of herbal teas and infusions) and from the outside (bath procedures). At the same time, each visit to the steam room was accompanied by different types of massage and ended with dousing with ice water;

2) the last entry was given a special role - while bathing in a font with herbal infusion, a woman talked about the difficult moments of pregnancy and childbirth, cried them out;

3) if necessary, the midwife in the bath "ruled" the woman - put her stomach in place, straightened the navel, straightened the uterus, displaced during childbirth;

5) twisting of the seven zones of the mother's body (head in the forehead, shoulders, area under the chest, iliac bones, mid-thigh, legs in the calf area, feet). Each zone was wrapped with a long scarf, the body in this zone was tightly tightened on both sides and kept in a tightened state for some time.

It is not possible to say exactly when the traditions of swaddling were lost, but in Soviet times they were certainly pushed very deep, because a woman - a production leader - in three months should already be “at the machine”.

Alena Lebedeva, a midwife, began to revive the tradition of swaddling in 2003 in Russia. At a conference in France, she met a Mexican midwife Naoli Vinaver and learned from her invaluable experience. Returning to Russia, she immediately began to apply the experience gained in practice, making mistakes, introducing something of her own. Having gained experience, Alena began to share knowledge.

It is noteworthy that in Mexico this ritual is still alive today. The technique is based on swaddling a woman with a traditional Mexican self-woven rebozo stole, which has been used by Mexicans since ancient times as an element of clothing, as well as for carrying babies. Rebozo is made 7-10 days after birth.

Mexican postpartum swaddling procedure:

1) warming up and relaxing the body of a woman in a herbal bath or a traditional Mexican temazcal bath;

2) light massage;

3) dragging a woman's body with a rebozo scarf.

It is believed that during the Mexican technique of closing childbirth, not only physical, but also deep energy interaction with the mother's body occurs.

Anna Neklyudova, doula, writes that modern art of postpartum recovery rests on five "pillars".

The first "whale" is warm. A woman needs to be warmed by all available means and protected from the cold. In Thailand, a woman is not allowed to leave the house in the rain, and as soon as it starts to drip, all windows in the house must be closed. Also, you can’t wash your hair - a lot of heat goes through it, and wet hair is a direct path to hypothermia. In China, by the way, the same tradition. The Slavs have a bath, and the Mexicans have a temazcal. Warmth is the main condition for successful recovery after childbirth. So keep yourself warm. Here are warm clothes, and a bathhouse with brooms, and a warm house, and warm food, and warm drink, and a warm bath or shower, and warm body oil, and a warm spiritual mood.

The second is herbs. Every nation has herbs that help to recover. You need to use those herbs that grow in your region: there is sure to be a plant that repeats the properties of the widely advertised overseas brother. Drinking herbs and bathing in herbs, using them in compresses and baths is inexpensive and easy. The benefit is huge.

The third is a stomach massage. Now I'm not talking about visceral massage, which is done by specialists. I'm talking about simple stroking movements now. Our mothers stroked our tummies as children, and we ourselves can do it for ourselves. No wonder the Thais say that after childbirth, both mother and child are equally weak and helpless and need the same care! Warm up some oil and stroke your tummy or ask your husband, mother, girlfriend about it. It is pleasant not only physically, it is also psychologically useful, as it allows a woman to get to know and give care to her changed body.

Fourth - tying up the abdomen. Even the most intricate Indonesian backing can be learned, but it doesn't have to be. A simple tummy tuck is no less effective. It is found in all cultures as an integral part of postpartum care. Tying up the belly is a routine action. It does not require special skills or dexterity, but it does require discipline. If you tie up the first 40 days, the body will respond with gratitude.

Fifth - respect for the mother. In all cultures, a woman is supposed to lie down, not supposed to do housework, carry heavy loads and walk long distances. For the first 40 days, the mother should receive care no less than the baby, and then gradually the care weakens.

Having absorbed Slavic traditions, Mexican notes and methods of recovery after childbirth, midwifery began to spread throughout the post-Soviet space, changing and taking on new forms in places.

Looking for a diaper. How to find yours?

My experience of postpartum swaddling

In the process of searching for a diaper, the thought did not leave me that an unfamiliar woman would come to my house and I would have to expose not only my body, but also my soul to her. I understood that the search would lead me to exactly my diaper - to the one to which my soul would respond and open before her. This process is akin to finding a midwife. There are no accidents here. As the soul of a child is looking for the one who will bring him into this world, so the soul of the mother is looking for the one whose caring hands will help the tired body to be reborn, whose warm heart will share the experience.

A series of events led me to Svetlana Balashova. It so happened that before giving birth, I met with another diaper. I consciously prepared for the process, chose a girl according to the recommendations, met a month before the birth, asked questions that worried me, listened to my heart and made my choice. We agreed that approximately on the 40th day after the birth we will organize swaddling. Everything was decided.

And now, a week before the expected swaddling date, it turns out that she will not be able to swaddle due to personal circumstances. So fate led me to the Light. The presence of a 3-week-old toddler in our arms and not quite close geographical location did not give us the opportunity to hold a preliminary meeting. And I didn’t want to drag it out, I wanted to swaddle “in hot pursuit”, so to speak. While the body has not forgotten, and the emotions are fresh. I had to make a decision over the phone, my intuition said its “yes” ... and was not mistaken.

It was an 8 hour story. An unfamiliar woman suddenly became so dear, as if I had known her all my life. Words flowed like a stream and my heart fluttered. I told her everything: how I prepared, how confident I was in myself and my abilities ... and how it turned out for us - how my birth turned into a 40-hour marathon with an unopened cervix and two nights in labor.

Sveta offered me berry compote and herbal tea, but I chose coffee with cardamom. For me, at that moment it was a heavenly drink. Choosing essential oils for massage, I created a unique composition. She was magical, gentle, instilled faith in tomorrow and in herself. The bath for the first time in many months relaxed my body, and the skin was saturated with the aroma of healing herbs. With every cell I felt the tension leaving my body. Then there was a massage and alternate tightening of body parts. I remember the details poorly, probably because the state during swaddling is somewhat reminiscent of the state in childbirth. This is an altered state of consciousness, when the mind falls asleep, giving way to the dominant role of the soul, emotions, subtle plan. Rebozo massage gave the body weightlessness, energy flowed like a stream. Under the influence of caring and gentle hands, I plunged into memories, bizarre associations emerged from the depths of the subconscious. For a moment it seemed to me that the soul had separated from the body and my consciousness was floating somewhere high, high...

It is difficult to describe in words what you experience while weddling. This is not a spa treatment.

Practice is fraught with sacred meaning. It helps to put an end to it, to live the unlived, to work through the unexplored. She helps to get out if a woman is stuck somewhere. If the birth was difficult, she will help to relieve the burden, if expectations were not met, she will help to come to terms with it. It is also a process of transformation, the transition from pregnancy and childbirth to motherhood. Swaddling closes childbirth and smoothly leads to motherhood, allows you to realize a new role, gives a resource.

After swaddling, I discovered a source of strength in myself, to some extent I was reborn, my cup was filled. Another interesting nuance is that I started listening to the music that was playing during childbirth again. Before giving birth, I created a folder with music, there were Enigma, Chinese classics, Vedic music, dolphins and the sound of the ocean, I gave birth to these motives :) And since my birth was quite difficult, I could not listen to this music later. As soon as I turned it on, it became uncomfortable. And after swaddling, this selection began to cause me only warm, pleasant sensations. Calm has come.

From the mouth of a diaper

Great Earth Mother. State. Contact

- How did you start your path in swaddling?

It began with the fact that after my second birth (6 years ago) I acutely felt a lack of attention and care for myself. Not from relatives, but from a certain specialist. I had something swarming inside me, but what exactly - I did not understand. There was a lot around for the child (pool, sauna, massage, baby yoga, dynamic gymnastics, etc.) and a lot of mother's "shoulds". Then I did not come across information about swaddling. Perhaps, then this was not the case in Ukraine. After 2 years, I went to Moscow for the Midwifery Today conference. Yulia Shelepina was there, she shared her experience and sowed the seed in me.

After that, my husband and I had an experience (he is a practitioner of cranio-sacral therapy) - after giving birth, we soared the entire “newborn family”: mom, dad and baby. After a while, it became difficult for us organizationally. And then we postponed it until the birth of our bathhouse. Now she is slowly starting her work. During this time I have collected knowledge and experience from various sources. And I am very grateful to all the women for the knowledge and advice passed on. And especially to those who trust me in swaddling! I have swaddled women at their homes and I want to keep doing it. I saw that swaddling a woman at home and a bath for all family members are very different processes and one cannot replace the other.

- When I was looking for a diaper, I realized that each of them brings something of their own to the procedure, some kind of "trick". What tools do you use in swaddling?

Indeed, everyone is different and each has its own universe. We can say that the "chip" is the very personality of the swaddler. The state of her thoughts, feelings, body, her experience, worldview and much more. I completely agree: 90% of success in working with a client is achieved due to the state of the “therapist”, and only 10% are various methods and techniques.

If we talk about tools, then these are, first of all, basic knowledge obtained from body-oriented psychotherapy (BOT). I was lucky to learn from professionals in their field. TOP teaches to observe and connect three streams: thoughts, emotions and the human body. It's all interconnected. And in swaddling, it happens that a resource can be found in thoughts and words, at another time it is important to be silent and “hear the body”. To realize your feeling, someone needs to name it, someone needs to express it with the body and feel clarity in thoughts. I hone this integrity in myself and with this, I think, I help women. Someone wise said: no technique is worth a single gram of contact". It is difficult to be in true contact, including with oneself. And I am learning it.

My personal experience of childbirth and motherhood also helps me. And of course, all the techniques and knowledge received from practicing women. Rebozo massage, recipes for drinks, gathering the right herbs, abdominal massage, the tightening technique itself. Sometimes I use metaphorical cards as therapy aids. All these are tools in the hands of a diaper in order to ultimately relax a woman, fill her with warmth and resource, find answers to her questions, look deep into herself, help her.

In my opinion, the task in swaddling (which I practice) is to create a field of trust and acceptance. Figuratively speaking - to serve a woman. So that she could feel the constant presence of some mythical figure of the Great Earth Mother. The one who loves and accepts without conditions. He generously shares his strength with the woman who has given birth. Support and thank her. Helps her to grind through negative experiences, find positive and gratitude, accept what happened. Recognize yourself as a new, already born. Thank yourself, your body for the work done. Tell him: “The birth is over. I could. We were able to,” and look at the present moment. “Here I am firmly on my feet, I am a mother to a new person, and responsibility of a different quality is already looming ahead.”

- What should a woman who decides to have a procedure pay attention to?

In my opinion, it is important to clarify with the swaddle your expectations from the procedure. Be honest about exactly what you expect to get from swaddling. See if this specialist can satisfy you. Because there are several different approaches to swaddling, and each specialist has his own knowledge and capabilities. It would be nice to clean out unnecessary illusions. Ask questions that concern you. It's great to meet in person, as an option - on Skype. To feel if there is a response.

In swaddling, you can see the ritual significance. Renewal ritual. Letting go of the already obsolete past, grounding in the present and joyful anticipation of the opening future. Swaddling (elements of it), I propose to do not only after childbirth, but after any stage you have experienced. Where it would be appropriate to comprehend and let go, accept and forgive, feel the moment here and now and gain resources for the desired, new. This may be appropriate after divorces, losses, new milestones in personal growth.

- Why do you think the practice of postpartum swaddling has been forgotten?

Now, in principle, it is forgotten what femininity is ... And swaddling should be available to every woman.

Finally

I would like to end with the words of the diaper Irina Gulevich: “ Does everyone need swaddling? - Everyone. Swaddling becomes an amazing opportunity to collect treasures in your past, values, gifts - call it what you want ... To be born a New Self» .

Dear readers, when I tried to find information on the Internet on the topic of weaving, it became clear that there was not enough of it. If you have gone through swaddling after childbirth, please share this experience in the comments, and indicate your city and, if possible, some kind of link so that other women can find their swaddler. (It may be tactless to leave the specialist's personal data, but the link is quite appropriate.)

God grant that more and more women learn about this practice and get the opportunity to gain the resource and fullness that gives swaddling, as well as total acceptance of oneself as a Mother!

List of sources

to the article “Postpartum swaddling - recovery after childbirth. What is it and how does it happen?

• Postpartum swaddling is a recovery procedure after childbirth, closing them on the physical, mental and emotional plane. This is a multi-component process that helps the organs get back into place after childbirth, promotes total relaxation and renewal of your body cells, is a prevention of postpartum depression - it normalizes the emotional background.
• Postnatal swaddling is an ancient postpartum recovery practice that exists in many parts of the world. Its goal is through warming up the body from the inside and out, relaxation with the help of rebozo massage, oil massage of the whole body, face, acupressure, aromatherapy, visceral correction of the abdomen, hypno-aqua techniques, deep psychotherapy and work with the subconscious, with the help of analysis, resource and reexperiencing childbirth, the rite of "7 castles" - to make a soft and harmonious transition into a happy motherhood, which pleases and fills.
• Postpartum swaddling is a huge charge and resource for the mind and body. This is gratitude to your body for the wonderful and great process that it has done - the conception, bearing and birth of your baby.
• Previously, in Russia, the birth of every woman was closed, “the spool was ruled”, it was impossible not to close it so that she could continue to safely bear and give birth to healthy children.
• Traditions are now being revived. More and more women understand that they need such a procedure - that after childbirth they feel broken, unstable, as if the earth has left under their feet.
• And I am returning this land - thanks to a set of practices that help you enter your balance, return to yourself, become whole and stable.
• There is another reason why a woman after childbirth, even the most wonderful and soft, can feel unstable and vulnerable, as if too open.
• Because that's the way it is. The midwives believed that a woman in childbirth opens and expands on all planes - not only physically, when the cervix opens 10 cm and releases the baby into the world, the pelvic bones expand and move apart - but also mentally, when a woman from one world brings the child into our world, there is a transition between the worlds. And earlier they believed that after childbirth a woman is, as it were, in two worlds, and the entrance to that world must be closed - for this, among other things, postnatal swaddling was carried out.
• You may not believe in this, but many feel that when the birth is not closed, the energy flows through the fingers and there is no strength, and the procedure contributes to filling, resourcing and closing on the physical and subtle plane.
• It is especially important to carry out postpartum swaddling after a difficult birth, if everything did not go the way you wanted, and it worries you, you constantly return to thoughts about childbirth, but how could it be otherwise, why did everything go that way ...
• And if there was an emergency caesarean section, if there were interventions in childbirth or losses - miscarriages or abortions - the closure of childbirth simply needs to be done so that you can continue to live a full happy life.
• And the statute of limitations does not matter here, it's like an unclosed gestalt - it will always be with you, pull your energy until you close it. Even if it happened 20 or 30 years ago.
• I wish you a prosperous and happy life, joyful motherhood! So that you stand firmly on your feet, filled, resourceful and harmonious!
• And I can help you with this - write, call, contact - it will be a great pleasure for me to help you make the transition to your happy and harmonious life!

PROCESS DETAILS

• WHEN? It is carried out when the postpartum discharge is over - on the 9th, 40th day after the birth, or later - when you feel that you are internally ready for this. I swaddled both half a year and a year after giving birth. Your state, inner readiness is important here. Or you understand that you urgently need it like air, and I try to find time in my schedule to come to you as quickly as possible.
• I put a lot of my energy and resources into the closing of childbirth, so I have a limit in a month - I can’t physically do more than three swaddling per month. Therefore, it is ideal to book in advance.
• HOW MANY? Postnatal swaddling lasts 5-6 hours.
• Since after the procedure there is total relaxation and transformation at the cellular level, it is important that after everything you fall asleep, and do not do household chores. Therefore, I arrive in the evening, at 5-6 o'clock and we finish closer to the night.
• WITH WHOM? I swaddle myself, usually at your place. It is important for me to maintain the intimacy and sacredness of the procedure, because in the process I conduct deep psychotherapeutic meditations, and in order for everything to work out, a sense of solitude, trust, relaxation and belonging is important. Therefore, with practice, I came to the formula that I close the birth myself, since I myself am completely in charge, responsible for this process and controlling it. Of course, at your request, I can close the birth with an assistant, but this will be a different cost.
• WHERE? Usually everything happens at home, and part of the closing of the birth takes place in the bathroom, where we create conditions for a wet herbal soak.
• Of course, if you wish, we can close the birth in the bath, but I recommend using not a public bath, but only a private one - which your relatives or friends have, and there is a rest room with a bed so that we can carry out all the elements of the procedure. If you have your own bath - it's perfect.
• And BABY? In the process of closing the birth, there are elements where you need someone to stay with the child, for example, a husband, grandmother, nanny or someone close with whom the baby is familiar.
• Of course, not all 6 hours, but 2-3 times an hour for sure. Think over this moment, and mentally prepare your loved ones that the baby will have a lot of time with them on this day, and in the process bring it to you only for feeding.
• WHAT TO COOK? When you have booked your baby changing and we have agreed on a date and time, I send you a list of what you need to prepare - herbs, spices, oil, sheets, towels, warm socks, pots, gauze, a kettle and other little things.

You can also contact me for postpartum care - professional advice on breastfeeding, postpartum recovery and baby care. More details can be read here.

The idea of ​​postpartum swaddling is not new; on the contrary, mention of it is found in the description of traditional rites that accompanied childbirth. In Russia, after giving birth, midwives not only washed and corrected (twisted) the baby, but also took care of the woman who had given birth. She was hovered, her bones and joints were corrected, the spool (that is, the uterus) was put in place.

Here is how in Thoren's book "Russian Traditional Medicine and Psychotherapy" they write about the important role of the bath in the postpartum period:

“The very first and urgent thing after the end of childbirth is considered to be to reduce and evaporate the puerperal woman in the bath ... Three baths, or even more, are almost always required. popular belief is that it has the ability to restore normal physiological processes in the body of the puerperal ... Another important significance of the bath is that here for attendants, not embarrassed by the presence of strangers, it is possible to "rule" the stomach of the puerperal much more freely ... It is also very important to put the "spool" of the puerperal woman (womb) in place. It is most convenient to do this in the bathhouse, when the "bones are thawed and softened."

The rebirth of postpartum swaddling in Russia

Swaddling found its second birth in Russia in 2003 when Alena Lebedeva met the Mexican midwife Naoli Vinaver at the world conference on natural childbirth. Naoli talked about the ritual of swaddling women in Mexico, which allows the woman in labor to recover as quickly as possible. Since then, swaddling has developed into a special system, overgrown with various details. In 2009 E.Yu. Lebedeva received a patent for swaddling as a "method of postpartum rehabilitation." Over the past time, the practice of swaddling has spread throughout the country, changing depending on the views of the women conducting it.

The essence of swaddling remains the same. There is a maximum relaxation of a woman, for which soft heat, massage, essential oils, silence are used ...

First, a woman in labor is warmed up in a bath or a warm bath with the addition of herbal decoctions. Warming drinks with spices, herbs, berries are taken inside.

A warm woman is given a massage to relax the muscles, improve blood flow, and put the internal organs in place.

After that, swaddling itself takes place, when the body is pulled together with a long cloth in 8 zones in turn (head, shoulders, ribs, iliac bones, hips, shins, feet, hip joints). A woman is recommended to lie down or even sleep for 4 hours after swaddling. The whole procedure takes from 4 to 8 hours, during which the baby is next to the mother, and can attach to the breast at any time.

Best time for postpartum swaddling

The best time for swaddling is 5 to 14 days postpartum(after caesarean section - on the 3rd week after childbirth), although in practice women did it a few months later and noticed positive changes.

Positive effects of postpartum swaddling

What are the positive effects achieved through the procedure of postpartum swaddling?

• The dynamic stereotype of movement changes when the body continues to move after childbirth, as if the woman is still pregnant (with the stomach displaced by the center of gravity).
• Reduced postpartum elasticity of ligaments and joints.
• Tissue swelling is removed, recovery of the figure improves.
• Stimulates hematopoiesis.
• The body is detoxified.
• The mental and functional state is normalized.
• The position of the pelvic joints is corrected.
• Reduces the likelihood of postpartum depression.
• Postpartum problems are solved: back pain, too large belly, poorly contracting uterus, hemorrhoids, constipation, urination disorders, insomnia, depression, loss of appetite.

From the reviews: “I noticed that I began to sleep more calmly - my back does not hurt! When getting up, the feeling of dizziness disappeared, and the tummy noticeably decreased. However, the whole body was “blown away” a little, even the legs began to feel free in slippers. My husband generally said that I noticeably built up. ”

Types of postpartum swaddling

Currently, there are two practically different types of swaddling: medical, which is a rather complicated procedure for restoring the body after childbirth, and restorative aimed more at harmonizing the state of the body and soul.

The first option combines various types of massage: lymphatic drainage, visceral, connective tissue; osteopathic techniques, phyto- and aromatherapy, etc. This is the same postpartum rehabilitation that Alena Lebedeva and her students do, more aimed at the body.

In the second option, massage, bath and tightening by zones are also performed, but the emphasis is on the psychological component. A woman who has given birth is faced with the task of not only restoring her body, but also rethinking the experience gained, entering the role of a mother, and finding a new state of mind. In the swaddling procedure, it is possible, through working out painful areas in the body and pronunciation, to remove negative experiences associated with childbirth or the period of pregnancy. And with the help of massage, aromas and relaxation, find peace and a resource for motherhood. In some cases, at the request of the woman in labor, postpartum swaddling is supplemented with rituals (washing hands, honoring a woman in a new status).

From the reviews: " At the time when they dragged me in some places, I was silent and almost fell asleep, and in others, unexpectedly for myself, I began to chat without stopping. Moreover, she remembered and splashed out on the girls not only the “surfaced” details of childbirth, but also the seemingly forgotten moments of pregnancy ... The next day I woke up with a feeling of pleasant lightness in my head. All worries and problems, obsessive thoughts disappeared somewhere. But I wanted to smile at everyone at home, hum and take off.

Most likely, there is no single, only correct type of swaddling. It is much more important that a woman understands for what purposes she needs swaddling, and makes an appropriate choice. Anyway important is the identity of the one who carries out swaddling. Remember - the requirements for midwives were quite strict. They included not only the ability to provide proper assistance in childbirth, but also a number of requirements for her moral and spiritual character. The use of osteopathic techniques should not be done by everyone, and it depends on the psychological state of the “swaddlers” whether the woman in labor will eventually find spiritual harmony or it will remain just a spa procedure.

Photo of the procedure from the site "Obstetrics Today"

The postpartum swaddling of a woman is a process that not only affects aspects of her physical condition, but also involves the mood and emotions of the woman, the area of ​​\u200b\u200bits of her nervous system, as well as the formation of a sense of motherhood. Postpartum swaddling can be regarded as a kind of rite of complete, harmonious, in terms of impact on all possible areas, the closure of childbirth.

What is postpartum swaddling

The tradition of swaddling after childbirth is present in the culture of many peoples, such a closure of childbirth has become most famous among the Slavs and the peoples inhabiting India.

The main task of postpartum swaddling can be considered a quick and painless physical and psychological recovery of a woman who has given birth. After all, it is no secret to anyone that in the process of bearing a child, all the thoughts and feelings of a woman are directed exclusively to the future baby. Moreover, the body of the future mother is also undergoing global physical changes, the purpose of which is to maintain the pregnancy and create conditions for the successful passage of the upcoming birth. And throughout pregnancy and at the time of childbirth, a woman often subconsciously accumulates a huge amount of fears, fears, dissatisfaction and dissatisfaction, which can prevent her from fully enjoying motherhood. Postpartum swaddling will help to avoid such consequences, the procedure of which involves three important aspects: energy - restoring the woman's energy balance after childbirth, psychological - getting rid of accumulated resentments and fears, and, of course, physical - restoration of the woman's body and the so-called closing of childbirth.

Currently, the tradition of postpartum swaddling is becoming popular again. Of course, taking into account the level of development and achievements of modern medicine, the swaddling procedure has undergone significant changes, but its goals and objectives have remained unchanged.

The main tasks of postpartum swaddling

Carrying out visceral massage - a therapeutic effect on all organs and systems of a woman's body through deep pressure.

Achieving a state of deep physical relaxation by slowly warming up the whole body and subsequently carrying out a compression massage. Changes at the physical and emotional level in the body of a pregnant woman occur slowly and gradually over the course of 9 months, which is why the woman's brain has time to adapt to them. Changes after the past childbirth come rapidly, within a few hours or days. Postpartum swaddling enables a woman's body to accept the changes that have occurred on a physical, psychological and emotional level.

Normalization of metabolism and acceleration of the process of "cleansing" the blood, which is achieved by warming the whole body, massage and pulling, due to which the body of the woman who has given birth is renewed and rejuvenated.

Carrying out a deep massage, which helps to eliminate toxins and outflow of lymph.

Bringing intestinal motility back to normal by increasing the tone of the intestinal muscles.

Elimination of even a slight displacement of the internal organs of a woman due to massage in combination with thermal procedures and squeezing.

Unloading the heart, which is achieved by improving the functioning of small vessels and stimulating blood microcirculation.

Getting rid of excess fluid accumulated in the body and edema with the help of compression, which, in turn, leads to a rapid decrease in body volume.

Return of the pelvic bones, displaced during childbirth, to the correct position. This will save the woman from possible pain in the bones and joints.

Ventilation of the lungs, which becomes possible by pulling the chest and using "upper" and "lower" breathing.

Prevention of mastitis and pre-mastitis conditions.

Stages of the postpartum swaddling procedure

The postpartum swaddling or wrapping procedure is supposed to be carried out within 30 days, starting from the 10th day after the physiological birth, and if a caesarean section was performed, then the terms are slightly shifted - it will be 21 days after the operation. Compliance with these deadlines, according to experts, is extremely important in terms of achieving the greatest positive effect. The wrapping time varies from 5 to 7 hours, it is carried out at home.

The main "indications" for postpartum swaddling can be considered a woman's complaints about:

back pain;

big belly;

excess weight;

violation of posture;

breathing difficulties;

urinary incontinence;

haemorrhoids;

"instability" of the pelvis when walking;

insomnia;

persistent anxiety and tearfulness;

lack (from a woman's point of view) of warmth and care;

severe recovery after a caesarean section, when a woman in labor feels like a “not her” body.

The first stage of postpartum swaddling of women

Before starting the procedure itself, the condition of the woman should be carefully analyzed. A specialist in postpartum swaddling will certainly conduct the necessary diagnostics - a detailed conversation about how the pregnancy and childbirth went, whether everything is fine with the baby, how the woman feels, what worries and worries her. This will help to identify the range of her problems and determine the sequence and duration of the procedure itself, its stages, as well as the selection of oils, herbs and spices to be used.

The second stage of postpartum swaddling of women

The next step is to work with the body - internal organs, muscles, ligaments and joints, this happens with the help of oiling, massage and warm, relaxing baths. In parallel, a conversation can be conducted with a woman, but only if a woman is ready and wants to talk, perhaps at the moment she needs silence and the opportunity to “be alone with herself”. In any case, the main task of this stage is the complete and deep relaxation of the woman.

The third stage of postpartum swaddling of women

As soon as it was possible to achieve a state of relaxation, the third stage of swaddling begins - tugging, which is carried out using a special cloth. It is they who tighten the key areas of the body and keep it in this state for a certain time to achieve the necessary therapeutic effect. One of the most difficult is swaddling the abdomen, with the help of which the abdominal organs return to their original position and normalize their functions.

The fourth and final stage of postpartum swaddling for women

The final stage of swaddling is the belly garter, which will serve as a kind of corset for the muscles of the anterior abdominal wall and abdominal organs.

At the end of the procedure, the specialist will talk about the correct behavior after swaddling, show a set of exercises that will help consolidate and enhance the effect achieved.

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 was removed, or that nothing had changed, the procedure did not help.
Yulia told us, of course, that this is, in fact, a 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 gave birth a long time ago, answer that in such cases they do everything except pulling, they say there is no point, the hormonal background is different, nothing will change. Nothing will change in what?
Yes, and the article, the link to which I gave above, also sins by focusing on the bodily condition.

But I, who have been interested in the topic of transitions for a long time, saw in the “procedure” a lot of other things, which, as it turned out, were not obvious to other participants. Postpartum swaddling is a real transition, thought out, having a whole system of insurance against “failure”.
A transition is a rather fast 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 bodily.

Let me remind you that transition-initiations have three stages:
- dying in the former social quality
- the stage of timelessness, between worlds, when the initiate relates more to the world of the dead
- birth in a new social quality.
(See http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Initiation "The Structure of the Ritual")

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

Experiences are memories, but special ones. Remember something pleasant: the images that pop up look rather hazy compared to the outside world, 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 vaguely, 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 in the images of experience, strength, our strength, is collected, and, plunging into 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 about six months after my first birth, I spent a lot of time worrying about past pregnancies and deliveries that went wrong. I had to recover myself, take care of my son, and I invested half of my strength in worries about the past, which cannot be corrected. And after all, 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 the restoration of yourself and the child.
Six months later, they let me go. But only when Goshka was three years old, I became interested in the topic of transitions and rituals, found information on the “washing hands” ritual, met with the doctor who accepted my son, and spent a small but important part of the ritual, when we looked into each other’s eyes, hugged, and sincerely asked forgiveness from each other, and I gave a gift, only after that I felt that everything had passed. I didn’t care what was there during the pregnancy, how the birth went. I stopped looking back at all, although I can calmly tell how it was, but in a detached way, as if I would tell about what I read or heard. And there was a change of states quite quickly. Only after that I realized that the forces continued to drain into experiences during all three years, it just began to happen not so brightly, habitually, but there was a hole, and then it was gone.

With the second birth, there was a similar story, but not so burdened. Although I gave birth solo, there was a woman with whom I consulted. And although the experience I have gained is invaluable, and I have never regretted anything over the past year and 4, I realized that my thoughts from time to time return to the figure of that woman. It didn’t take that much strength, but I contacted her, we performed the ceremony of washing hands, and everything closed right there. Now I remember that she is, but I do not remember her every day in connection with my birth.

And I see how women around continue to boil in experiences about childbirth, how instead of thinking about her husband and children, she returns there again and again, willingly tells everyone who is ready to listen to how she gave birth. And even if the birth was perfect, there are still experiences associated with the previous 9 months. And it seems that these experiences do not have a statute of limitations. My mother gave birth to both me and my sister, in fact, solo, in the prenatal ward, but even now she talks about some moments very lively, too lively for ordinary memories. Probably, these experiences were placed on a par with other experiences, but this did not stop them from being. And the notorious effect of oxytocin, when a woman after childbirth cannot remember simple things, like the title of her thesis written the day before, seems to be unable to cope with her feelings.

Our ancestors understood this very well. The midwife was called for childbirth if the woman was giving birth for the first time or if something went wrong. But the midwife always soared the woman in labor, ruled her body, ruled the child, and then there was a ceremony of washing hands. And earlier I perceived this action as follows: warming up and editing - separately, blurring of 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. Poll, a woman is asked about her condition and, based on the results, spices for a drink and aroma oil are selected. This gives her the opportunity to understand her feelings and articulate her pain.

2. Massage allows you to first feel the body. Our bodies have utterly yearned for the hands of another person. All primates touch each other a lot: they stroke, hug, sort out their hair. Our ancestors 100 years ago easily got along and ruled each other, which is why part of our hand is called the PALM. Bath, brooms once a week and an extraordinary bath on the occasion of arrival, illness or other event, and childbirth was such an event. And now, even without childbirth, we often do not feel the body. Massage makes it possible to feel the body, its new boundaries and to feel where there are tensions that are associated with feelings. Working with stresses, you can get to the experiences that caused it, moan, speak them out and remove tense places in the body.
Those. it turns out a two-way movement in working with pain: through memories and through the body. And here comes the second stage of the transition. Through spoken and lived pain, a woman dies as a pregnant woman and a woman in labor.

3. During the first two stages, a woman is preparing for the second stage of the transition: the loss of social status and, in fact, human. For her, the rules of society cease to work. She calmly exposes herself in front of people whom she would recently be embarrassed about. The massage has already put her in the passive state of an object with which something is being done, and now she is immersed in an herbal bath and left alone for a while. After 15 min. the next stage begins: she is relaxed and massaged, turned over (like a newborn or a dead person). They lubricate the skin with a scrub, which, on the one hand, can be considered as a cosmetic procedure, but on the other, it is the removal of old skin.

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

5. An important stage of pulling the body begins (see article). Here I see the peak of the stage of dying: oiled, relaxed, wrapped in shrouds and tightened. At the same time, a woman can dive into herself and sleep on some tours, and on some tours she becomes very animated and gives out new portions of experiences, or just chatting about trifles.

6. Sleep or rest, when a woman spends 4 hours in bed hugging a child, resting and recovering.

My additions, incl. transition, how to enhance the effect.

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

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

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

Before going to the bath, you can organize a ritual of washing hands (of course, having previously explained to the woman what it is and how it is done). It is not always possible to return and find the same doctor or anesthetist or someone else who was great and the memories of whom haunt, 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 substitute in the arrangement. Or you can use a mask, in Baskakovka we played a masquerade "matchmaking of a heron and a crane." An interesting state, I know who is hiding behind the mask, but I do not perceive it, I communicate with the mask. I think the mask is good if a woman is against the constellation 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. And here it turns out that the woman was left, told to lie down for 4 hours and that's it. Hello family. There must be a holiday, albeit not a stormy one, only with family members, but it is important that a woman, after 4 hours of lying down, puts on a new dress, and with a child in her arms goes out of the room to another room, where the festive table is laid and she is greeted with greetings and congratulations to family members and close friends. This is the logic of the ritual of transition: she went through pregnancy, through childbirth, she did it and now she is the one who will raise and take care of the already born child, this is worth noting.

And a couple of words about those who carry out swaddling (again, from the point of view of the transition). There is such a rule that only those who are already there can lead to the new world. At least this is the world of the living, and if those who carry out the swaddling are not quite alive themselves (in Wedzhen's terms, frozen, mermaids and other undead) or are currently experiencing not the best stage in life, sadness, depression, etc. I'm afraid that the third stage of the transition for a woman may not take place or be blurred.

Yes, the transition implies the second stage of dying, ie. passivity, and there must be a figure of the one who conducts the ritual. In my opinion, for swaddling success, it is important to create this special ritual space, when the vain world around is forgotten and only the central figure remains - a woman in transition. It happens there that they speak in a whisper and try to be quiet so as not to wake 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 a feeling of a ritual happening, a miracle happening. And the swaddlers are likened to guides, priestesses, on whom it largely depends whether this space of transition, the sacraments, or everything will come down to a spa procedure.

I hope I managed 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 since the birth. In order to close the hole where strength flows and as an important stage in preparing for conception, in the end, so that unclosed experiences of the past do not rise in a new pregnancy and childbirth.