Postpartum recovery · Amelia

Confinement Meal Plan 坐月子

A 30-day Singaporean Chinese confinement plan in the Hokkien tradition, tuned for recovery after a caesarean. Tap any dish for its recipe; each meal has an alternative. Day 1 is 2026-07-08, starting with dinner.

Every day — applies to all 30 days

  • Fluids: warm or room-temperature water throughout, plus a cup around each feed. Warm red-date tea in the morning; mild ginger or longan red-date tea before bed.
  • With lunch & dinner: a portion of well-cooked leafy greens + a carb (rice, mee sua, or sweet potato) for steady feeding energy.
  • Afternoon snack (pick one): steamed sweet potato · black sesame paste · walnuts/almonds · hard-boiled egg · stewed pear · ripe papaya · warm soy milk. Prioritise pear or papaya to ease constipation.
  • Cooking in the heat: keep ginger and sesame oil moderate, serve soups warm not scalding, and omit rice wine (or cook it off fully while breastfeeding).
The plan

Four phases, thirty days

Tap a dish for the recipe. Each meal shows an “or” alternative you can swap in; an iron tag marks the day’s iron dish.

Week 1

Healing · after a caesarean

Days 1–7 · 8–14 Jul
Caesarean recovery, first few days: gentle on the gut and the wound. Day 1 starts at dinner (8 July) — the day Amelia is likely home. No gas-forming foods yet (sweet potato, broccoli, beans return in Week 2). Ginger, sesame oil and any rice wine stay light and only ease in from around Day 5. Easy-digest protein for wound healing.
Week 1 shopping list
Week 2

Milk supply

Days 8–14 · 15–21 Jul

Dang gui and black vinegar pork trotters come in now that early bleeding has settled.

Week 2 shopping list
Week 3

Strength building

Days 15–21 · 22–28 Jul

Stronger iron dishes for rebuilding — clams, mussels and black-bean pork soups.

Week 3 shopping list
Week 4

Recovery & normalising

Days 22–30 · 29 Jul–6 Aug

Widest variety; a second pork-trotter vinegar is optional.

Week 4 shopping list
Terms

Quick glossary

坐月子zuò yuè zi — the confinement month
麻油鸡má yóu jī — sesame oil chicken (signature Hokkien dish)
当归鸡dāng guī jī — angelica-root chicken soup
蛤蜊姜汤gé lí jiāng tāng — clam & ginger soup (iron)
面线miàn xiàn — mee sua, thin wheat noodles
上火shàng huǒ — "heatiness" from rich/warming food