The fear of polluting the polluting postpartum body then explains why Huda who had just given birth two weeks prior wanted to be interviewed at home.
Clad in a long sleeved shirt, batik skirt and socks, she informed me that her mother did not allow her to go out. My eyes could not peel away from the chalky, brown pilis that was liberally smeared across her forehead as she spoke about how she went back to her mother‟s place after giving birth.
Throughout my visit, her mother would dotingly ask if she required anything and served her piping hot lunch with a glass of warm water midway through the conversation. Huda‟s mother would intermittently interject the interview to give her the baby to be breastfed. After she had finished nursing the newborn, she would pass the child to her mother to be burped and laid to sleep.
As her mother did that, Huda would enquire and comment on her mother‟s actions.
Figure 6.3 Body peeling scrub (left) and pilis paste used to relieve headaches and prevent blindness (right)
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Unlike Huda, Farhana was relieved that she had finally completed her confinement period a few days prior to the interview. She relished gaining back the freedom to go out of the house. She related how her mother stayed with her and took care of her confinement needs like bathing her newborn. Although she had finished her confinement, Farhana was still guzzling the Chinese Herbal drink that she had religiously consumed during the confinement period.
Rini, Dijah and Diana were pregnant during the interview. However, they voiced their intentions to go through the confinement period. Dijah and Diana saw that period as the time when they would slim down and return to their trim self.
However, as both of them intend to fully breastfeed their babies, they will not be consuming jamu. They were informed by their sisters and friends that it might cause their babies to have jaundice. Whereas Diana will be taken care of by her grandmother, Rini and Dijah who are both expecting twins will be spending one half of their confinement period at their mother‟s and the other half at their mother-in-law‟s. They want to give both sets of grandparents an opportunity to care for the twins.
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Second time mothers, Hana, Hasanah and Nur will be embracing their second stint at confinement.
Hana first discovered the benefits of pilis after her parents travelled to Australia bringing with them the various confinement herbs when they tended to her during her first pregnancy. The pilis relieved the headaches that she had subsequently after giving birth. This time round she plans to do most of the confinement rituals by staying over at her mother‟s place after birth. She will return to stay with her in-laws during the last part of her confinement period.
Hasanah, on the other hand, found the confinement rituals cumbersome at first. She recalled stripping down swiftly to her tank top and shorts combo and
Figure 6.4 Packet of Jamu pills and pilis
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sitting under the fan whenever her mother-in law-left the house only to be berated when the latter arrived home and saw her. Nevertheless, she intends to be more committed to the confinement rituals this time round since she knows what to expect. Her mother will come over to her place every morning to cook for her and look after the baby.
As for Nur, she saw the benefits of urut (massage) in not only relieving her of her aches and pains but also pampering her. She did not like the other aspects of the confinement rituals having complained to her husband about being forced to go through them by her mother-in-law the first time. However, because of her mother-in-law‟s persistence during the first confinement period, she will acquiesce to the latter‟s wishes with regards to the pilis, bengkung and param this time round.24 This is especially since her mother-in-law is staying with her.
Nevertheless, Nur and Hana will not be consuming any jamu for fear that it will affect their fully breastfed babies. Hasanah will not be ingesting jamu but will drink the ubat periuk (herbal drink) instead after having seen her mother do it when she was younger.
24 Refer to Appendix 1.
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Shy and Salena will also be going through the confinement period but will not be eating the jamu for similar reasons. Additionally, Salena will be employing the services of a confinement lady to cook for her confinement meals, massage her and attend to her. Her mother-in-law and mother will take turns minding her newborn child. Finally, Siti has expressed that like the first time, she will not be going through the confinement period as she feels that “I will be fully recovered”
after giving birth.
My informants‟ narratives illustrate how there are myriad of decisions and intentions regarding the confinement period. The next section aims to make sense of this by exploring how my informants arrived at these decisions and intentions.
Figure 6.5 Herbal drink aimed at restoring a woman’s energy and vitality.
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