How Can Ayurveda Help In Mother And Child Care?

Motherhood is a big responsibility. Being a caretaker and a nurturer requires a lot of hard work and time. Staying active physically, emotionally and spiritually is the most difficult work of all. It is even more tiring as the entire process of giving birth is a tiring task in itself.

In order to get over this tiredness, according to Ayurveda, one should try to calm their Vata. Spiritual elements of the body are collectively called Vata. Vata is responsible for maintaining the balance and order of the body.

How to calm Vata?

Diet

For the Mother:
A mother is tired, sleep deprived, and in pain after the daunting process of giving birth.

• She should be present in cold and dry environment at all times
• To calm her Vata, she should maintain her diet as well
• This includes having light food, good fruits, and a lot of water
• It is very important to remember she shouldn’t eat spicy food at all
• She should try having food that provides nourishment to the body by including special herbs in the food, like Fenugreek, Ashwagandha and Pippali. These herbs stimulate the nourishing quality of food and provide the perfect balance to body.

For the Baby:

When it comes to taking care of infants, the best medicine and nurturer is the mother’s milk.

• After the toddler is 10-11 months old, Ayurveda can play a major role in their diet.
• Rasayana and Chyawanprash can boost immunity in children and calm their Vata.
• Swarna bhasma when mixed with ghee and honey can be a very effective medicine during cold.
• Shankhapushpi is also a medicinal herb that is very useful to boost immunity during the winters.

Physical Care

• Physical care is important for both the mother and the baby. This includes mild massages and exercises from time to time.
• Massages in the mother should be focused on the hip and the lower back region, as those are the places that experience most pain in the body. Ashwagandha and Bala oils are the best to massage with.
• When it comes to the child, the most focused part is the skin. Though infants shouldn’t be subjected to massages at first, after a year, one can massage a baby with Snehana and Ashwagandha oils to improve the skin.

Emotional Care

1. The mother and the child need emotional support more than anything. This requires a mother to spend time with her child as much as possible.
2. A mother should get ample amount of sleep during the nights. So, as much as possible, the father should take care of the child during the nights.

Above are some of the best practices to nurture mother and the child. But it's not an easy task. It's going to be challenging and confusing, but once this becomes a habit, everything will fall into places. Consulting an Ayurvedic doctor is very helpful at this stage.