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Bengkung Belly Binding has become one of the most talked-about ways to aid in your postpartum recovery. Bengkung belly binding is the art of wrapping a postpartum women’s belly and hips for physical support and to help hasten the recovery process after childbirth. For centuries, women in various cultures all over the world, have tried similar belly binding or postpartum wrapping techniques to help the recovery process after childbirth.
No matter how you gave birth, the first six weeks postpartum are considered a “recovery” period. Even if you sailed through your pregnancy and had the easiest delivery on record (and especially if you didn’t), your body has been stretched and stressed to the max, and it needs a chance to regroup. Having a recovery plan is extremely important during this time.
Bengkung belly binding can be an important part of recovering from childbirth. Using cotton, muslin, or silk fabric your abdomen is wrapped in order to support your body’s natural healing process. Belly binding assists the abdominal wall muscle retraction, improves posture, supports loosened ligaments, and provides support to the torso while vital organs return to their pre-pregnancy size and position. Wrapping can be done over your clothes or under using an under wrap.
On some days, you might feel like you have to choose between a flat tummy and newborn cuddles. But at least initially, celebrate your body for what it’s done and know that an immediate flat tummy is overrated and perhaps better suited to celebrities with personal trainers and live-in nannies. After that, you can take heart in knowing there are things you can do to lose the baby weight that seems to stubbornly hang out at your midsection.
Bengkung Belly Binding Benefits
It targets your entire abdomen
After birth, a mother’s body has been through a lot, and is often left in an injured state. The muscles and tissues in the abdomen and pelvis have been stretched beyond normal length, nerves have been compressed and stretched.
Unlike commercial binds that only target your hips and lower abdominals, your Bengkung Bind extends from your pubic bone to just below your breasts giving you consistent, overall support.
It can repair certain ab muscles
During pregnancy, the growing uterus stretches the muscles in the abdomen. This can cause the two large muscles that meet in the middle of the abdomen to separate — a condition called diastasis recti or diastasis recti abdominis (1). Bengkung binding is helpful in bringing those bands of muscles back together in order for the Linea Alba, or connective tissue, to strengthen and support the muscles more effectively.
Bengkung belly binding provides back support
Lower back pain is a common complaint of new mothers, largely due to weak abdominal muscles and poor posture. Backache after pregnancy is very common, especially in the later stages since your ligaments have loosened and the growing baby has affected your posture. The stress on your body caused by pregnancy also puts you at greater risk of a back injury. Bengkung belly binding is a great antidote to both of these causes.
Provides pelvic support and relaxes
Preganacy releases a hormone called relaxin; which is responsible for the ligaments in the body to relax and loosen so that the baby may move more easily through the pelvis during birth. Relaxin remains in the body for several months after birth. Binding postpartum takes advantage of the relaxin in her body puts gentle pressure on the hips/pelvis helping bring those hips back to their pre-pregnancy state.
Decreases postpartum bleeding period
Pressure and support for your uterus helps it contract and shrink to pregnancy size a little quicker, which also lessens your bleeding time.
Cultivated a positive self image
Using beautiful fabric to wrap your healing body not only looks great, but feels great too. When you feel good and supported, you feel better about yourself in general. Happy moms lead to happy babies.
Bengkung belly binding can correct your posture
Caring for your baby can often leave you slouched and slumped over. With excellent posture you can rebuild your strength and put less strain on your body with baby in your arms.
Can also improve breastfeeding
One of the first you hear when you learn how to position yourself to breastfeed is “bring the baby to the breast, not the breast to the baby”. This means, don’t lean forward and strain your neck to feed. Sit back, relax, and bring baby to the breast. Binding can assist with this by simply encouraging your body to have good posture while you feed.
Assists with correcting hip arches
Achy hips are a common postpartum complaint during the first few weeks. Since your hips expanded during pregnancy to prepare for your baby’s birth, they will take some time to get back into place. Having the support of your Bengkung Bind can bring some much-desired relief to those aches and pains.
Postpartum healing tips
The following tips can help you to speed up your postpartum recovery, so you heal — and feel — better:
- Help your perineum heal. Ice your perineum every couple of hours and as time increases look ingo sitz baths.
- Ease aches and pains. Ease overall achiness with hot showers or a heating pad — or even treat yourself to an ayurvedic oil massage.
- Do your Kegels. There’s no better way to get your vagina back in shape, make sex more enjoyable for you and your partner.
- Be kind to your breasts. For achy breasts, try using a warm compress or ice packs and gentle massage.
- Keep your doctor’s appointments. Checking in with your doctor is essential since it helps ensure that everything is healing as expected.
- Eat well to ease fatigue and fight constipation. Eat a combination of complex carbs and protein for energy, plus plenty of fiber.
- Keep moving. While there are plenty of tricks to target swelly belly. exercise is likely off-limits for at least the first few weeks if you’ve had a C-section, and you won’t be immediately back to hard-core pre-pregnancy workout routines if you had a natural birth.
Your postpartum recovery won’t be just a few days. Fully recovering from pregnancy and childbirth can take months. While many women feel mostly recovered by 6-8 weeks, it may take longer than this to feel like yourself again.
The Bengkung method of belly binding is incredibly adaptable to your specific body type, size, and shape. It uses cotton, muslin, or silk fabric and as your postpartum body changes and shrinks down you can simply rewrap yourself to accommodate your transforming body. Those standard belly bands also do not support your hips and ribs and can bulky and uncomfortable. Belly wraps can be beautiful colors and designs and look gorgeous when worn.