After nine months of carrying a baby in your uterus - which had multiplied in terms of size so many more times than its original state - and after giving birth...it's now time to REST, RECOVER and REGAIN ENERGY!

That's what the pantang period or confinement period is all about. We should not overlook the importance of the pantang period by perceiving it as full of untrustworthy tales of dos and don'ts made up by the traditional midwife or tukang urut. They were thought up for a reason - maybe not all - but there is some logic to it.

Like I've mentioned in an earlier entry, don't deny your right to heal internally and externally. :-)

I have to admit that I found out about Natalis Beauty after stumbling upon Liyana Jasmay's Instagram account. This local celeb had also recently given birth and engaged with Natalis Beauty for confinement care. This, after my originally scheduled confinement lady could not make it in time due to unforeseen circumstances.

Boy, am I soooo grateful I found out about Natalis Beauty!

I contacted the person-in-charge, Pn. Suzie and Alhamdulillah she was able to slot me in even on short notice and in her company's already hectic schedule. They have various confinement care packages, whether they are half day or full day sessions, or have the confinement lady (CL) stay in with you for your chosen length of time. They can cook for you, too. They even do ad-hoc berurut sessions upon booking for those not in pantang.

With Pn. Suzie of Natalis Beauty

I took the half day package; the price for one session in this package is within the acceptable market range. Transportation fee is also included.

I never knew confinement care was like having the spa being brought to your home.

Before I go on to tell you about my CL's daily routine, I must really hand it to her for making the sessions wonderful and stress-free. She was friendly, hardworking, well-trained, resourceful and made me feel comfortable - apart from being totally hands-on with the baby. Not to mention also, one of the best tukang urut's I've had.

This was her daily routine (with the help of an assistant):

For the Baby

1. Bathing
For someone who had never bathed a newborn before, this was really helpful. My baby loved the water! Thanks to a skilful CL, there was never even a squeak from my baby.

2. Bertungku
The CL will apply small dabs of ointment (minyak urut) on the baby's body before bertungku. A super mini tungku is used and it's so cute!

For those who are not familiar with bertungku, it's basically all these herbs compressed tightly and wrapped into a ball-like shape. You can consider it as your traditional heating pad. The tungku is heated up real hot (using a stove usually) before its usage. Tungku's for babies are heated lightly using an iron.

How a tungku looks like

The tungku is then pressed against various parts of your body to provide relief. For us women in the post-partum pantang period, this practice can be quite vigorous for the abdominal area. This is to get your womb back into its original place. Make sure this is conducted by only those who are 'certified' and competent enough!

For the Mother

1. Sauna - The CL will bring her portable sauna to your home. You will sit in it with only your head popping out, to sweat out the toxins in your body.

That's not me (taken from Google) but my CL did bring in a PINK portable sauna!

2. Tangas - This is an external treatment where you will be asked to stand above some pre-heated stones placed in a small pot. While crotching a little, the CL will pour a special herbal mixture onto the 'hot' stones which will then emit steam (apart from the sounds of something being fried), providing relief to your uterine muscles.

3. Herbal Bath 

4. Traditional Massage Therapy (berurut) - Provides absolute relief to the body. Even if it did get vigorous, it was pretty relaxing in which the outcome was a pain-free and re-energised body!

5. Body Scrub (lulur) - There will be days the CL will opt to apply body scrub on you instead of the massage therapy. It will leave your skin cleansed and baby-smooth, no kidding. I loved it so much I bought several bottles from Pn. Suzie for future self-use.

6. Bertungku - (As described above)

7. Application of homemade herbal paste:

Param - applied on the body;
Pilis - applied on the forehead (a classic pantang trademark!); and
Tapel - applied on the stomach.

The function of the tapel is to get your stomach into its original look and color. (The area tends to get blackish after being stretched during pregnancy - it works!) People say the application of this paste will make your body itch, but I did not experience any of that with the paste concocted by Natalis Beauty.

8. Wearing of the bengkung (traditional waistband) - To help you get back in shape, especially in the abdominal area. To me, it works better than the modern strap-on waistband.

9. Jamu - Confinement's version of a healthy juice to boost energy and help recover. Not my cup of tea, but they say it's good for you!

The jamu comes at an extra one-off charge, as well as the bengkung (unless you have your own). All other items are provided for and included in the main package.

To wrap up confinement care, you can opt for an add-on -- mandi bunga and totok (facial massage). This is probably leaning more towards being a beauty regiment rather than a healing treatment. But it was fun!

Natalis Beauty is definitely in my recommendation list for confinement care. I'm so tempted to book a berurut session now.......

If you're looking for confinement care or knows someone who is, here are the details: