I highly recommend the post-natal wrap and massage. After giving birth to my firstborn, my stomach kept lurching to one side. It could be due to my sleeping on one side more than the other during my pregnancy. It was horrifying that my stomach would not stay centralised and I feared that it would stay that way. My tummy still looked huge and unsightly as well and I felt really demoralised.
Then, my mum hired an elderly Malay lady called Kamsiah for my post-natal wrap. She was wonderful. She played psychologist to my exasperated first time mum, massaged all my aches and knots away, brought my tummy back to the centre, pushed all the wind out of my womb very quickly so it was no longer swollen with air, and gave Kaelen baby massages to prevent colic- which she also taught us. She didn’t use any special oils – just olive oil and a long, white, cotton cloth that she knotted around me (from just under my boobs up to my hips). This cloth was then removed, the whole massage given and then the cloth was retied afterward every day for 3 weeks. She would come in the morning and by evening or nightfall, my waist would have shrunk quite a bit so that she could tighten the material further the next day.
I looked forward to my massage sessions so much and it is a pity that we lost her number.
Her parting words to me was that for future pregnancies, if we cannot find her, to be wary of people who peddle special oils for a special price during massages. The efficacy of post-natal massage lies not in what oil is being used, but in the technique for pushing out the wind. A person who is less experienced can actually harm the body by pushing organs out of alignment!
When getting a massage lady to do Jamu massage, it is best to hire one that people you know have hired before and had good experiences with. There are masseurs out there who sell snake oil and do not have the right technique which can really be harmful for your body. There are also shops these days that offer such packages. Do your research and read up on them before you sign up with them.
