Hello darling hivers, today I want to share my cultural practice. I am from the eastern part of Nigeria. We are called the Igbo speaking tribe. We are known for our rich cultural heritage. Our tradition is quite an interesting one and I am so happy to share one of our amazing practices.
I am a new mom and I had to undergo some traditional practices to get my body back. First of all most of the practises I am going to mention are not scientifically proven. However these practices have been passed on from one generation to another.
Omugwo is a practice that takes care of a woman who just put to bed. She is looked after for three months by her mum if still alive or any woman who is close to her. Maybe her mother in-law or sister. This woman whose duties will be cooking,bathing both mother and child and doing other things like laundry will do it for three months.
A mother who goes for omugwo is a thing of pride to her. She sees it as the height of achievement for herself as she gets to carry her grandchild. My mother was with me from the beginning of when I fell into labor. So, I saw how happy she was and how she talked with her sisters in the village on becoming a grandmother.
UDA STICK
Let's talk about some of the practices that a nursing mother will undergo. The first is the choice of food. I was told not to eat beans, pawpaw,garri and other foods but eat yam and pepper soup. This pepper soup is prepared with special natural spices like Uda and Uziza seeds. These spices are believed to have an effective cure to cleaning the womb and making the belly become flat.
UZIZA SEED
The uziza seed is said to be an antibiotics that removes every bad blood from the stomach and the uda seed is said to cleanse the womb. So for the first few weeks,the nursing mother is expected to eat these things.
Another practice is the hot water. Hot water is used to press the woman's stomach. I remember I did that once and refused to to it again because the water was too hot. Whomever is bathing the woman will make sure to massage her stomach very well with the hot water believing that it will make the tummy flat and help remove the bad blood too. For the child, hot water is also used to massage the baby to give them shape..
FUFU
Another belief is that a nursing mother is expected to eat fufu(fermented cassava) instead of the normal garri. This is because fufu will hold the stomach more than garri. They believe that the tummy is still open and should be filled with energy given foods.
AJUMBAISE
There are other practices which sounds awkward but may have worked for our mothers back in the day like the use of ajumbaise. This according to the belief is a fat burner. It is said to work and reduce the tummy in two weeks or less. However it hasn't been scientifically proven too. Ajumbaise is prepared by boiling it in a pot of water. The nursing mother is expected to drink from the pot morning and night.
These are the few practices that woman undergo during omugwo in my own culture.
Thank you all for reading