Sitting on the moon is not a disease, can be the same life as normal people, of course, the whole process of pregnancy and just gave birth to a child body will be weak, eating and activities will sweat, as long as the attention of the room air conditioning temperature can not be set too low, to prevent colds can be, can not be covered, every year I have heard of doing the moon was out of the heatstroke or covered the tragedy of the death of the sad, saddening!

I just want to let you know that we OB/GYNs, if it's a summer birth, do turn on the air conditioning!

Deaths of women in labor due to heat stroke (heat stroke) caused by menstruation are rare nowadays. Before the large-scale introduction of air-conditioning into China, such things happened almost every year. After the reform and development, especially in the last 10 years or so, air-conditioners have entered the country on a large scale, and many rural families now have air-conditioners, so such things have become rare. However, in 2015 in the Magic City, and this year in Zibo, Shandong Province, such a tragedy occurred again. I can't help but say that the inertia of such bad habits is too powerful. For how to sit on the moon, I have popularized several times http://weibo.com/p/1001603838500419060937?mod=zwenzhang. After this tragedy, my article was widely forwarded, it seems that it is not enough, I have to put these issues, here again popularized, otherwise, there are still some people will die unjustly.

How to have a proper menstrual cycle, should we listen to the old man or the doctor? This is actually a question of the attitude of how to live with the knowledge of modern medicine. In the past, when medicine was not developed, there were many pregnant women who died in childbirth. In the natural state, without the help of modern medicine, the maternal mortality rate was 1.5%, which means that out of every 100,000 mothers who gave birth each year, about 1,500 would die. In those days there was no contraception, and if each person got pregnant every two years, starting at age 16 and ending at age 50, theoretically about a quarter of all women would die from childbirth-related illnesses. This is actually true. Now after medical advances, last year our maternal mortality rate was 19.5/100,000 . Year, which is almost negligible compared to 1500/100,000 . . year, which is almost negligible compared to 1500/100,000. If we still turn a blind eye to such a great progress and listen to the "old man", then it is really not the heat that kills us, but rather the "stupidity" that kills us.

In the past, the number one cause of maternal mortality was puerperal infections, the most common type being post-partum acute endometritis. In those days, the lack of knowledge of disinfection and sterilization, coupled with the fact that the wounds in the genital tract and the cervical opening were open after delivery, made it very easy for puerperal infections to occur. If not treated in time, it could lead to maternal death. Since the 1950s, the State has been vigorously promoting the new method of delivery, and nowadays we hardly see any deaths due to puerperal infections.

In puerperal infection, the mother will have fever and chills, which is considered "wind" by traditional medicine because all illnesses related to cold are considered to be caused by "wind" by traditional medicine. People will have "chills" before they have a fever, so puerperal infections have become the focus of "cold" and have become very popular. Since you can catch a cold, you should wrap your head in a towel, wear a cotton jacket, and keep your doors and windows closed while you are sitting in the womb. In some places, this is also the case even on three-volt days, so there are often cases of pregnant women suffering from heat stroke. I have never seen a woman suffering from heatstroke, but when I checked the wards, I found that the doors and windows of some wards were closed tightly, and the air in the wards was dirty and foul-smelling. Families and mothers often ignore it. Whenever I encountered such a situation, I had to open the windows to let fresh air into the room, and I also had to give these people some reasoning, but I was often obstructed and interfered with by some mothers-in-law and grandmothers. The young people seemed to be more willing to accept the doctor's advice. It is a small trick to test whether a woman believes in witchcraft or science, and whether she has prickly heat on her face. Many expectant mothers neither bathe nor turn on the air-conditioning when they arrive at the hospital, and prickly heat can easily grow on their heads.

Another reason why traditional medicine believes that it is easy to get wind after childbirth is that in the past, when the umbilical cord was cut off during childbirth, rusty scissors or kitchen knives were often used to cut off the umbilical cord, and newborn babies were prone to tetanus, which is known as "umbilical cord wind" because the incubation period of tetanus is about seven days, and it is also called "seven-day wind (seven winds)" in some places. ". In fact, tetanus is caused by the exotoxin secreted by the tetanus bacillus, and the main symptom is spasmodic convulsions, which have nothing to do with wind at all. Once it occurs, the newborn has almost no chance of survival. In fact, it is also due to infection. Because the tetanus bacillus was present everywhere, the neonatal mortality rate used to be particularly high. With the new style of delivery, tetanus infection no longer exists.

After delivery, a small amount of seepage from the uterus, together with red blood cells, white blood cells, and shed epithelial cells, will flow out of the vagina, which is medically known as bad dew, and usually takes about 3 weeks to last. The first week's post-partum discharge contains red blood cells, so it is light red in color. Coupled with the bleeding during delivery, all many people have anemia after delivery. The traditional theory of jujube is that red dates are red, so it will "replenish blood", but in fact, red dates are not useful for replenishing blood at all; some people think that it is necessary to replenish qi, so much so that the price of donkey skin is speculated to the sky. In fact, it is not useful at all. In fact, postpartum anemia should be prevented from the time of pregnancy, and iron supplements are needed. For people who lose a lot of blood in childbirth, postpartum anemia, must be supplemented with raw materials for the manufacture of blood such as iron, vitamin B12 and folic acid, brown sugar, jujube, Colla Corii Asini, hawthorn, and other things, not useful at all for blood replenishment. It's okay to take it as food, but it's stupid to take it as medicine.

Postpartum sitting requires rest because the large amount of hormones in the body during pregnancy makes the joint capsules loose, nerve roots are compressed, etc., resulting in pain in the joints, wrists, lower back, etc. There is no good treatment for this kind of pain, and the only treatable measure is postpartum rest. Doing nothing after delivery is practically rest. This is probably the only contribution made by the Chinese herbalist to menstruation.

Many of the taboos in Chinese medicine, especially in the area of diet, are not correct. For example, if you have boils and carbuncles, the Chinese medicine practitioners say that you should avoid eating "hairy things" such as pumpkin and carp, or else they will become more serious and turn into pus, and so on, but in fact there is no such thing. All fruits are raw, cold, some places women do not eat, saying that they are afraid of cold. This is also not true. Some menstrual centers give apples to women in labor and boil them in water, which is really farting with their pants down, not to mention being superfluous and destroying the vitamins inside the apples. What's the point? The proper way to eat apples is raw.

Do I need to avoid wind, food and cold water after giving birth? Of course not. Many people don't bathe when they are on their monthly cycle, which is really unthinkable in the eyes of modern medicine. How can you stand not bathing for a week when the weather is so hot? It is proper for a woman in labor to take a bath. Nowadays, all wards are equipped with showers so that patients can take a bath. Since the cervix does not close until about 12 days after delivery, it is advisable not to take a sitz bath until then. Of course, the water used for bathing should not be very cold, and the temperature of the water and the environment should be suitable.

Many of the taboos in traditional Materia Medica are related to the production of milk. In fact, whether or not there is milk after delivery is mainly related to stimulation. You must let the baby suckle on the nipple as early as possible after delivery to stimulate milk production, the earlier the better. Even if there is no milk, let the baby suckle; second is to give medicine, you can take a small dose of vitamin B6 orally, usually the daily dose is not more than 20mg. this medicine is very strange, a large dose will inhibit the production of milk, a small dose to promote the production of milk. The third is to drink water, at least 1500mL per day. Of course, drinking soup is also possible. The traditional science that carp, pumpkin, glutinous rice stewed pig's feet, old hen, eggs, etc., belong to the "hair", can promote milk production, in fact, it is nonsense; during the menstrual period, but also eat rice wine, it is even more wrong, because any alcoholic beverages for the baby's neurological development, are harmful, so do not drink alcohol, do not eat rice wine! Boiled eggs. In fact the greatest benefit of meat, fish, poultry and eggs in food is that it provides sufficient protein for the mother. This is true that in ancient times there was progress, but in modern times, when material things are already very rich, it is still regarded as a classic, is it not what our ancestors said "to seek the sword in a boat"?

Traditionally, mothers can not move, to stay at home, some places believe that sitting on the moon is like a hen hatching chicks, should be sitting on the bed without moving, the result is that some mothers on the tragedy: pulmonary thrombosis and death. Maternal blood coagulation system in the body is already in a state of high coagulation, postpartum if you do not move, it is easy to form pelvic, lower extremity venous thrombosis, resulting in pulmonary embolism. So the right thing to do is to get out of bed as early as possible. Walk around the house first, and then slowly move around, such as taking a walk, after you have recovered your strength. Light exercise, walking, swimming (at least two weeks later) are all OK, but all kinds of strenuous exercise, all kinds of ball games, etc., or wait for 42 days after the body has fully recovered before starting.

Many people seek help from Chinese medicine practitioners because of insufficient milk. Wang Bu Li Xing, Tong Cao, and Andrographis paniculata are all traditional medicine prescriptions for breastfeeding, but in fact, they are useless. It is really pathetic to see Andrographis paniculata, which, just because of its scales and name, has been masturbated to be a good medicine and has almost become extinct. There is also a Mutong (or Guan Mutong), used to be a good formula for breastfeeding. Just because this medicine contains aristolochic acid, ate a dead person, and now the Chinese medicine is embarrassed to take it out again to show off. After all, this is a matter of life and death. Do you want to take Chinese medicine during menstruation? The answer is of course one word: No.

Nowadays, there are some people in the medical field who, with the help of traditional theories, prescribe a lot of medicines for women in labor, such as motherwort (powder, granules, paste, etc.), Wuga Shenghua (granules), Si Wu Tang (granules), and so on, which are not really useful. After a cesarean section, some doctors will prescribe a lot of antibiotics, drip for several days, etc., which is likewise not necessary. If you think moon sitting is too boring, then practice Kegel exercises, that stuff does work for your pelvic floor muscle recovery.

The stereotype of "sitting on the moon" should have been completely discarded a long time ago, as anyone with a basic knowledge of medicine knows only too well, so I will not go into details. However, we can still ask how this custom came into being and why it is still popular today.

The most important reason for the custom of menstruation is the ancient backwardness of health conditions, science and not bright, so make all kinds of false associations and speculation on the mechanism of pathogenicity. For example, in ancient times, most of the sitting bath bath, water quality and difficult to ensure that may cause maternal wound infection; at the same time, due to the Chinese medicine to "microorganisms" do not know anything about, and put forward such as "by the wind" and other theories to be attached to; and these theories in the process of circulation around the world, and with local In the process of spreading these theories around the world, they were mixed with local superstitions to produce more and more bizarre variants. Similar situations are not uncommon in history, not only "sitting in the moon", in fact, the vast majority of theories in Chinese medicine (such as "wind-cold, wind-heat", "on fire", In fact, most of the theories in Chinese medicine (such as "wind-cold, wind-heat", "fire", "diet", etc.) are the same.

In addition to this, the ancient taboo of reproductive impurity (the belief that menstrual blood and puerperal blood are unclean and will offend the gods, and that even a bystander who accidentally touches it will be in bad luck) also played a part in the emergence of the practice of menstruation. For example, the pseudo-Buddhist scripture, "The Sutra of the Blood Basin of the Megillian Orthodox Church", which was widely circulated among the people in the past, claimed that "a woman who gives birth to blood and dew, pollutes and touches the gods of the earth; and if her clothes are dirty and defiled, she will go to the streams and rivers to wash them, and the flowing water will be polluted and filled with dirt, which will lead to the mistake of making good men and women to take the water and make tea and offer it to the saints to make it impure. Therefore, after their death, they will be "disheveled, long yoked, and condemned in hell".

These erroneous medical theories and associated superstitions were easy to understand in ancient times, but why are they still so prevalent today? It is certainly not easy to change customs, but over the past century, there have been countless changes in folklore that have disappeared; I am afraid that the reason why many of those who have the ability to promote the change of customs are holding on to what they have is actually a subconscious sense of cultural inferiority, and the more inferiority complexes in their hearts, the more proud they will be on the surface, and as long as it is their own stuff, even if it's a pile of broken brass and iron, they still have to deceive themselves and others by saying that it's a treasure. Although the absurdity of "menstruation" is obvious to all, since we have already begun to encourage Western medical practitioners to leave the profession to learn Chinese medicine and advocate that women "return to their families" to follow the three virtues, one day the "menstruation" will be designated as a "national treasure", and the "national treasure" will be designated as a "national treasure". I am afraid it is not inconceivable that "moonlighting" will one day be recognized as a "national treasure".

Recently, Zibo, a woman sitting on the moon was asked to cover the quilt does not open the air conditioning and heatstroke death of the news has ignited the discussion of this "bad habit" of sitting on the moon.

To be honest, the news about maternal heatstroke death every summer, but such tragedies continue to occur year after year. 2015 August, Shanghai Fengxian District, a maternal because of family members to dispose of improperly, heatstroke during the period of sitting in the month, and then died after rescue; July 2010 Shandong Weifang, a maternal family in order for her to avoid the wind chill, in the room temperature of 36 ℃ is still covered from head to toe, wearing autumn clothes and pants, which led to severe heatstroke, and then died. resulting in severe heatstroke, and later died after treatment ......

When asked why the maternal family members to do so, often the answer is afraid of cold, will fall all kinds of "moon disease". So, in the end, is it necessary to cover the moon? People usually say "moon disease" and blowing air conditioning in the end there is no connection?

What is this "menstrual disease" that people are talking about?

"Moon disease" can be said to be a disease of Chinese characteristics, because the "moon" itself is a saying with Chinese characteristics. Check a wikipedia, China's traditional Chinese medicine said that the moon disease, refers to the woman in the production of children period, because the tendons and bones of the coupling is wide open, the body is weak, inside and outside the empty sparse inadvertent invasion of wind and cold caused by some of the disease of the general term. Ask some older seniors, to summarize, people often say that the moon disease has joint pain, back pain, headache, toothache, chronic abdominal pain, and so on, and theThese so-called menstrual illnesses are all attributed to "cold".Therefore, in the traditional concept of our country, mothers need to keep warm during their monthly period by wearing long clothes and pants, socks, closed doors and windows, not brushing their teeth, washing their hair, not to mention taking a bath, and doing everything possible to avoid being stimulated by wind, cold and dampness.

• What the hell is this "monthly sickness must be cured monthly"?

There is also a saying that the diseases of the month must be cured in the month. In layman's terms, it means that if you did not have a proper menstruation during this labor or miscarriage, you must strictly follow the requirements of menstruation during the next miscarriage or labor to correct the "after-effects" of the last time. I once met a woman who said that she had washed her hair during menstruation, which led to menstrual disease and frequent headaches, so she intentionally got pregnant again and then had a miscarriage, in order to sit for a short period of time in order to cure her "menstrual disease". People with a certain degree of general medical knowledge can easily see that the so-calledIt is actually nonsense to say that menstrual diseases must be cured during the month.The practice of deliberately aborting a child is both stupid and harmful.

What is the real cause of the so-called "moon sickness"?

Since the real cause of the so-called menstrual disease is not the cold, what is the reason for some of the uncomfortable symptoms that some women experience after giving birth?

• have a headache
  

Many new mothers in the face of the baby will appear to be at a loss, especially when this irregular "alarm clock" crying at night, many of the mother's serious lack of sleep, may lead to headaches, neurasthenia, if not timely adjustment or treatment, in the future, daily life may often have headaches; there are also some of the mother has a light to medium degree of Postpartum depression, if not detected and treated in time, may also lead to headaches, heartburn and other symptoms in the future;

• Low back pain, joint pain
  

Postpartum breastfeeding is also a great test for new mothers, incorrect breastfeeding posture, the strain of holding a child for a long time may lead to maternal lumbar muscle strain or even lumbar disc herniation, etc., coupled with the fact that many mothers do not have timely post-partum supplementation of calcium supplements, osteoporosis and lack of calcium will also aggravate lumbar pain and joint pain;

• toothache
  

Some women in the "month" during the supplemental nutrition, frequent eating, but rarely clean the mouth, resulting in the mouth is easy to breed bacteria, gingivitis or even caries can easily be caused, resulting in toothache.

It can be seen that the so-called menstrual disease is not caused by "cold".

Can I actually use the air conditioner during my "menstrual cycle"?

Since it has been said above that these so-called monthly illnesses are not caused by cold, then, of course, you need to blow the air conditioner in such a hot weather! However, one needs to blow the air conditioner correctly:

• Avoid cold air blowing directly on the body: During the week after delivery, maternal skin excretory function is vigorous, and a large amount of sweat is discharged, which is more obvious at night when sleeping and waking up, so you should avoid blowing air-conditioning cold air directly on your body to prevent catching a cold;

• Maintain moderate temperature and humidityIndoor temperature is best kept between 25-28 degrees, should not be too high or too low; should maintain a certain degree of humidity, you can turn on the air conditioning at the same time with an air humidifier, to prevent excessive indoor dryness caused by throat discomfort, dry skin and so on;

• Regular ventilation: Some mothers have been in the bedroom closed environment, air circulation, but also easy to lead to bacterial proliferation, therefore, should be regularly ventilated to change the air.

The woman in the news passed away because of heatstroke. Heatstroke is an acute heat illness caused by a high-temperature environment that prevents the body from radiating residual heat in a timely manner, resulting in central thermoregulatory dysfunction. The key to avoiding puerperal heatstroke is prevention, breaking old customs and habits, keeping the home ventilated, avoiding high room temperatures, and wearing clothes that are wide and breathable, conducive to heat dissipation, and comfortable.

Is it not necessary to "sit on the moon" after giving birth?

In fact, traditional menstruation is not meaningless. The traditional sense of "menstruation" in China is the medical term for the puerperal period.The puerperium is the period of time, usually 6 weeks, or 42 days, instead of 30 days, between the delivery of the placenta and the return of all the organs of the mother's body, except the mammary glands, to their normal non-pregnant state.Puerperium is a special period, this period of women's body is relatively weak, low resistance, easy to get sick, so appropriate health care is still necessary, probably summarized in the following aspects:

• Reasonable diet and balanced nutrition: The metabolism in the body of the post-partum baby mother is faster, coupled with lactation and other things that make the female body needs more energy and nutrition, so it is necessary to eat a reasonable diet, balanced nutrition, and the need to increase the intake of high-quality proteins, such as fish, shrimp, lean meats and fresh fruits and vegetables, and you can eat less and more meals. For women with calcium deficiency, they should take appropriate calcium supplements;

• Adjust your routine and get some sleep: Postpartum women are physically weak and must get enough sleep. In addition to this, they should also maintain a good mood;

• Hygiene and prevention of infections(a) Postpartum dew and sweat can easily lead to infections of the female reproductive system or the whole body. Therefore, women need to pay attention to hygiene, change clothes and bathe regularly to keep clean, and prohibit sexual intercourse during the puerperium;

• Knowing when it's hot and cold, and adding or removing clothing as appropriate: You should pay attention to keeping warm in winter and preventing heatstroke in summer, and you should not overdo it to prevent heatstroke;

• proper exercise: There are some traditional beliefs that women should rest well during menstruation and therefore need to be absolutely bedridden. This concept is wrong. Postpartum should be appropriate activities as early as possible, women with normal delivery, 6-12 hours after delivery can get up and light activities, the second day after delivery can be in the room to walk freely, on time to do postnatal health care exercises, you can also do yoga for pregnant women, walking and other light exercise. Timely postpartum activities are conducive to maternal physical recovery, urination and defecation, avoiding or reducing the occurrence of venous embolism, and can make the pelvic floor and abdominal muscle tone recovery. However, postpartum exercise should be gradual.

In short, although China has a long history, the old generation left us a lot of valuable wealth, but there are some ancient customs are wrong, or not quite suitable for today's society, we should look at the problem with a dialectical perspective, to do "take the essence, remove the dross". We hope that similar tragedies will not happen again!

Author: Nicole Wang (Obstetrician and Gynecologist)

Image Source: 123RF.com.cn Gallery

Copyright: This article is the original manuscript of Dr. Chunyu, the copyright belongs to Dr. Chunyu, unauthorized reproduction is prohibited, 授权与合作事宜请联系reading@chunyu.me

I personally think that 80% of the theory of Chinese medicine is dross, after reading the Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine, I feel that the ancient Chinese people are the "health" problem of mysterious words, take some completely unscientific sophistry as the truth. The beginning of the book said that the ancient people can live 200 years old, I think the fact should be that the ancient people live 30 years old is definitely considered a long life. China likes to worship the ancients, but in reality, the ancients were very ignorant of medicine and human body science, learning from the ancients about health care is like asking the blind! Blindly worshipping and mythologizing the ancients, being old-fashioned, and not innovating has always been a stumbling block to our progress.

People die for nothing? Who's responsible? I doubt it's that simple! Are your family all dead?