Confinement, post-partum massage with Hatice Aydemir from Mum Kneads
Hatice Ayedemir is a Melbourne-born, traditional postnatal massage therapist with Turkish roots. She shares her journey into cultural birthing massage and training in Singapore and Malaysia.
The conversation delves into Hatti’s personal story of discovering confinement care during her first pregnancy, describing the traditional postpartum practices such as specific nourishing meals, massages, and the importance of warmth and rest for the first 40 days after childbirth.
Highlighting the differences between Western and traditional practices, she emphasizes the spiritual and holistic elements involved in postpartum care. Hatice also discusses the importance of understanding cross-cultural practices, the need for better inclusion of natural medicines in healthcare, and her mission to educate and support women through their journeys into motherhood.
A large part of the focus of this discussion is on her confinement, a practice used in some Asian & African cultures where women stay at home approx. 40 days to bond with their baby and allow their body to recover.
From the moment we met at our Pregnancy massage course I was curious about this practice as I had never heard of it. Our conversation gives insight into some of the breadths of bodywork practices across cultures.
Connect with Hatice on Insta @mumkneads
P.S. This episode is one from the archives in 2020, well before I knew how to edit (and I’m still learning, so bare with some of the audio!) – I’ve also left the original edit below, so interesting my own capacity to hold the conversations these days!
Whakamanatia, in our sovereign uprising,
Gabrielle
Click on the image to watch my first edit