CONFINEMENT PRACTICE

Stone used for 'tungku'

Safwan posing on top of a ladder near the mengkudu plant
Solihin plucking the bigger mengkudu leaves
Looking for the right size of leaves
Cutting the leaves from the jarak pagar plant
Is this enough teacher?

Ustazah Roslina and baby Soleha
Mother and child

This afternoon, two of my boys helped me to pluck leaves to be sent to my colleague, Ustazah Roslina who gave birth to a baby girl a few weeks ago. I told them to get the leaves from the mengkudu, the jarak pagar, the bebuas plants and fragrant lemon grass (serai wangi) planted in the school Herb Garden. The leaves that I mentioned above would be used to help get rid of "wind" for a lady in confinement. After we got the leaves, all three of us went to Ustazah Roslina's house to send her the herbs. We even got to take photographs of Ustazah together with her baby.

The Malays and also the Peranakan Chinese would heat an oval shaped stone (the size of about two fists joined together) taken from the river and then wrap it with the leaves of either the mengkudu plant, jarak pagar or the lengkuas plant to help draw the wind from the new mother. You can use one type of leaf to wrap the heated stone or all the three types of leaves together. This process is called "tungku" in Malay.

Instead of the stone, some ladies use an iron bar. The heated stone or iron bar, wrapped in the leaves, will then be compressed on to the lower abdominal area until the stone is cold. For a natural birth, this procedure will be done about three days after delivery. It should be done daily throughout the confinement period. This is followed by a herbal massage by the midwife or bidan.