Start with light food 12 hours after child-birth. Give when the mother  is hungry after delivery.

1. Gruel of Rice with or without brown sugar (jaggery) and Milk 
Gruel of rice & brown sugar (jaggery) in milk is strengthening, heating, gives immediate calories to the mother.

Ingredients:

• Rice                             - 1/2 cup
• Water                          - 1  cup
• Milk              - 1 cup

Preparation:

Cook rice to soft and then add milk and boil. Add brown sugar (jaggery) before serving.Just plain rice gruel without milk and brown sugar (jaggery) is also good if the person does not like milk. Chopped onions and ginger can be add if milk is not used.

Preparation Time: 15 to  30  minutes.

2. Broken wheat  with or without brown sugar (jaggery) and Milk 
This is also strengthening and  heating.

Ingredients:

• Broken wheat                - 1/2 cup
• Water                          - 1  cup
• Milk              - 1 cup

Preparation:

Cook wheat to soft and then add milk and boil. Add brown sugar (jaggery) before serving. Just plain wheat gruel without milk and brown sugar (jaggery) is also good if the person does not like milk. Chopped onions and ginger can be add if milk is not used.

Preparation Time: 15 to  30  minutes.

3. Corn  with or without brown sugar (jaggery) and Milk 
This is also strengthening and  heating.

Ingredients:

• Corn                            - 1/2 cup
• Water                          - 1  cup
• Milk              - 1 cup

Preparation:

Cook corn  to soft and then add milk and boil. Add brown sugar (brown sugar (jaggery)) before serving. Just plain corn gruel without milk and brown sugar (jaggery) is also good if the person does not like milk. Chopped onions and ginger can be add if milk is not used.

Preparation Time: 15 to  30  minutes.

4. Puffed Rice With banana

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of puffed rice
• One banana
• one tablespoonful of freshly grated coconuts
• palm brown sugar (jaggery) or raw sugar one tablespoon

Preparation:

To puffed  rice sprinkle water (or milk) and mix to make it soft then add other ingredients and serve.

Adding  sliced banana or apple is  also good.

5. Lassi  (Sweet ground wheat  roasted in ghee and brown sugar (jaggery))

Ingredients:

• Broken wheat                - 1/2 cup
• Water                          - 1  to 2 cups
• Ghee              - 1 or 2 table spoon

Preparation:

Cook wheat to soft and then add milk and boil. Add brown sugar (jaggery) and ghee  before serving.

Preparation Time: 15 to  30  minutes.

6. Amaranth Halwa

Ingredients:

• Amaranth flour              - 1/2 cup
• Water                          - 1 to 2 cups
• Palm brown sugar (jaggery)/Raw sugar  - 25 gm
• Butter or ghee              - one teaspoon (optional)

Preparation:

Add butter or ghee in pan and briefly fry the flour in it ( 1 to 2 minutes) and then add water. If a semi solid consistency required add one cup of water, if a more liquid consistency desired add 2 to 3 cups of water.

Frying in ghee or butter is optional. Directly flour can be added in water.

Cook in medium flame and continuously stir to prevent charring of the halwa. Add brown sugar (jaggery) after the flour is cooked and stir for few more minutes.

Preparation Time: 10 minutes.

7. Bishop weed (Ajowan)  Halwa

Ingredients:

• Ajowan                        - 1/4 cup
• Water                          - 1 to 2 cups
• Palm brown sugar (jaggery)/Raw sugar  - 25 gm
• Butter or ghee              - one teaspoon (optional)
• Coriander seeds             -  one teaspoon
• Rice flour                      -  1/2 cup

Preparation:

Add butter or ghee in pan and briefly fry the rice flour, ajowan seeds  in it ( 1 to 2 minutes) and then add water. If a semi solid consistency required add one cup of water, if a more liquid consistency desired add 2 to 3 cups of water.

Frying in ghee or butter is optional. Directly flour can be added in water.

Cook in medium flame and continuously stir to prevent charring of the halwa. Add brown sugar (jaggery) after the flour is cooked and stir for few more minutes.

Preparation Time: 10 minutes.

Gruel of tuvar and wheat flour, brown sugar (jaggery) dry coconut & dates

8. Lentils Halwa

Ingredients:

• Toor dal or mung dal       - 1/4 cup
• Water                          - 1 to 2 cups
• Palm brown sugar (jaggery)/Raw sugar  -  for sweetness
• Butter or ghee              - one teaspoon (optional)
• Wheat flour                    -  1/2 cup
• Dry coconut                  - Three tablespoons
• Dates                          - one cup

Preparation:

Add butter or ghee in pan and briefly fry the lentils and wheat flour, coconut ( 1 to 2 minutes) and then add water. If a semi solid consistency required add one cup of water, if a more liquid consistency desired add 2 to 3 cups of water.

Frying in ghee or butter is optional. Directly flour can be added in water.

Cook in medium flame and continuously stir to prevent charring of the halwa. Add dates and brown sugar (jaggery) for extra sweetness after the flour is cooked and stir for few more minutes.

Preparation Time: 10 minutes.

9.  Garlic  Halwa

Ingredients:

• Garlic                          - 1 cup
• Water                          - 1 to 2 cups
• Palm brown sugar (jaggery)/Raw sugar  - 1/2 cup
• Butter or ghee              - one teaspoon (optional)
• Fresh coconut milk        - one cup

Preparation:

Grind garlic in a blender with water and cook it well. Then add coconut milk and rest of the ingredients  and cook

Cook in medium flame and continuously stir to prevent charring of the halwa.

Preparation Time: 30 minutes.

10.  Carrot   Halwa

Ingredients:

• carrot                          - 1 cup
• Water                          - 1 to 2 cups
• Brown sugar (jaggery)    - 1/2 cup
• Butter or ghee              - one teaspoon (optional)
• Fresh coconut milk        - one cup

Preparation:

Grind carrot in a blender with water and cook it well. Then add coconut milk and rest of the ingredients  and cook

Cook in medium flame and continuously stir to prevent charring of the halwa.

Preparation Time: 30 minutes.

Juices after delivery

Drink every hour or two fresh fruit juices with honey.

For snacks keep munching dates, dried figs, prunes, raisins which would cure weakness.

This diet is good to be followed for two to three months.

Baby Bath

Often the question arises about oil bath given for babies. Bathing is not only a cleanliness ritual but also relaxes and gives freshness to the baby.

		Oil Bath and massage
		Oil for baby Application of coconut oil or sesame oil  prevents body-heat and bad exposure to cold winds to infants. Oil keeps the skin free from dryness and scabies. Oil is traditionally used in Asian cultures for centuries for preventing infections and skin texture in children. But sadly modern women out of fancy have switched over to the use of mineral or petroleum based baby oils. Unrefined vegetables oils have innumerable effects on babies. Click here to read an interesting discovery by recent scientific study on the use of sunflower oil on decreasing infections in premature babies. Get Touchy Feely With Plants: Gently Rubbing Them With Your Fingers Can Make Them Less Susceptible to Disease  (Uni5: Then imagine the effects of touch on our own children. This is we emphsize on massage after birth)    We suggest to use coconut oil or sesame oil for babies. Olive oil tans the skin and so it is not recommended for brown skin. Unrefined coconut oil is the best for complexion. Oil bath influences the microbes in skin. Now read how Microbes-of-the-Skin has a link to immunity. Oil for ears Add a few drops of unrefined coconut oil or unrefined sesame oil in both the ears. This cleans the dirt and prevents ear infections. But remember to add only clean oil and spoon to add into ears  Alternatively , the oil can be boiled for a few minutes and after it is cooled, store in a bottle and use within a few months.    Adding a few drops of unrefined coconut oil or sesame oil to ears often (at-least once a week) is very good for healthy ears of the kid. This will prevent ear infections and keep the ear healthy and will prevent future ear  and hearing problems. Oil massage For the first three months its good to use coconut oil and then switch to sesame oil for the body and still continuing with coconut oil for the head. After one year, sesame oil can be used for both head and body and still continue with coconut oil for head only.    Oil baths can be given after third day of birth if the kid does not have any other problems. Gently rub oil over the baby's head and body and after half an hour give baby a hot shower (do not directly use the shower instead use a vessel to pour water on the baby).  Applying oil every day and giving bath is healthy for the kids. Massaging with oil has innumerable benefits especially helping the kid grow and washing the toxins form the body. Read this link for important information on growth and immunity of babies depend on baby massage given after birth. Pancha Bhoota Baby Massage Ear infections Our experience shows that these healthy practices example with oiling ears of two day old baby for three to six months everyday and also massaging the baby's head and body with oil before bath has prevented ear infections and all teething problems regularly children get. The child also is resistant form any infections that are common in children. Since oil prevents bacteria from entering body's surface, it could be that oiling ears fight from the new born days for six months everyday and then doing once a week for life long prevents ear infections. Soap Avoid using any sort of cosmetic to the infant. No baby oils, soap shampoo etc. Use mung dal flour. Mung dal flour ( mung dal is type of lentil) is available in Indian stores. This is a good shampoo and can be used to clean the baby's body and hair. Add a litle water and make a paste with the mung dal flour. If needed a pinch of turmeric can be added to the paste to prevent infections. Too much of turmeric will cause coloration of the baby clothes.     Add a pinch of turmeric to the bathing water of the infant for first one or two months to avoid any sort of infection to the baby from water. Turmeric  also give some protection to chemicals in the water.    Give head and body bath every day to the baby. This will give the baby good relaxation and hence sound sleep. If the baby has a cold or infection , it is better to avoid  head bath. It is good to make bath a practice so that when the baby grows up, bathing becomes a regular life style.    Baby products are harmful. Click here to read about it.