Postpartum Care & Vaginal Steaming
After birth, the postpartum care provided by modern western medicine is minimal. It often results in a 24 hour (or less) stay in the hospital and then a standard 6-week checkup. In between that time, no additional support is given with recovery unless the mother needs medical assistance based on severe symptoms.
​
During this 6 week period that she is sent home, her body is tasked with healing itself. This is what the body needs to accomplish after birth to properly and thoroughly heal:
​
-
Closing the vaginal canal and cervix to its pre-birth size
-
Uterus cleans and clears out the leftover lochia (pregnancy matter)
-
Reduce uterus down to pre-birth size
-
Return the abdominal organs into their correct places so they can continue to work and eliminate feces and urine
-
Heal any tears or stitches
-
Retract the abdominal skin
-
Reintroduction of warmth into the womb
-
Shed leftover pregnancy weight
​
Vaginal Steaming is used as a traditional practice worldwide by midwives and birth workers between this 6 week period to aid in the healing of the womb.
​
Healthcare professionals in western medicine may be missing something by blindly suppressing this universal health practice rather than researching its potential benefits.
​
Is one postpartum check-up at 6 weeks really enough to support you during such an extensive recovery period?
Heck no.
​
Until today, researchers have been ignoring vaginal steaming. Not many in the western medicine community have any idea of vaginal steaming and its benefits, yet there are millions of midwives and indigenous peoples that have used this practice for centuries to heal their clients. There are thousands of testimonies online from individual people that report steaming helped them heal from many vaginal ailments. Although there is rarely any clinical data to draw from, I can tell you what my personal experience has been and what clients and others online have said. Here are some of the reported benefits of vaginal steaming, including:
​
-
reducing menstrual symptoms, such as bloating, cramps, exhaustion, and heavy bleeding
-
boosting fertility
-
promoting healing after childbirth
-
reducing stress & anxiety by warming and calming the vagus nerve
-
treating hemorrhoids
-
increasing energy and reducing fatigue
-
treating headaches
-
increasing creativity in work
-
increasing libido
-
increases blood flow to the vaginal tissues
​
Several OBGyn’s have publicly declared that vaginal steaming is dangerous. These warnings are based on theory and not on any clinical data, which technically they aren't allowed to do.
​
Click here for the 4th Trimester Study