The classical six-week programme after delivery, which Kerala Ayurveda treats as non-negotiable.
What it looks like: Back and pelvic pain that has not settled after delivery; Exhaustion beyond ordinary new-baby tiredness; A body that does not feel like it has returned; Poor sleep even when the baby sleeps; Digestion and appetite still disturbed.
Ayurveda regards the weeks after birth as a defined clinical window — Sutika Kala — in which Vata is at its most disturbed and the mother's tissues are at their most receptive. Care given in this window is held to shape the following decades of health, which is why it is treated as a protocol with dates rather than as optional pampering.
A structured 42-day programme: daily Shareera Abhyangam with warm medicated oil, followed by a herbal bath; Navara Kizhi with medicated rice boluses to rebuild tissue; Prishta Vasti for the lower back and pelvis; abdominal binding, and a specific postnatal diet with internal medicines to restore digestion and support lactation. Female doctor and female therapists throughout.
Typical course: 42 days from delivery. Book during pregnancy so the dates are held.
When to see a doctor first, not us: Fever, foul-smelling discharge, heavy bleeding, calf pain or swelling, a wound that is opening, or thoughts of harming yourself or the baby — contact your obstetrician immediately. Postnatal depression is common, treatable, and not something to work through alone.
Assessed at Sri Vinayaga Ayurvibe, a doctor-led Ayurveda hospital at Nookampalayam, Perumbakkam, Chennai 600131 — reachable from Sholinganallur, Medavakkam, OMR, Velachery, Pallikaranai and Tambaram. Open every day, 10 AM to 8 PM.
This page is for you if you are expecting a baby and want the six weeks after delivery planned before they arrive, or if you have recently given birth and your body has not settled the way you hoped. It is also for the family who will do much of the practical work. The 42-day programme is led by Dr.V.Vaitheeshwari B.A.M.S., whose clinical focus includes postnatal care, and every therapy is carried out by female therapists.
The classical texts give the mother after delivery a name of her own, Sutika, and a set of instructions that run for about six weeks, or in some texts until her periods return. They are practical: what she eats, when she bathes, how warm she is kept, and who does the work for her.
The reasoning is simple. Labour empties the abdomen suddenly and uses up a great deal of strength, so digestion is weak and Vata has room to move freely. The care has four aims, in this order: rekindle digestion, settle Vata, rebuild strength and support breast milk, which is why the programme does not open with rich food or long therapies.
The first consultation can take place in the last weeks of pregnancy. Dr.V.Vaitheeshwari B.A.M.S., then knows your history before the baby arrives, and the family has time to set up the home. A short review after delivery adjusts the plan to how the birth went.
At that review the doctor asks about the type of delivery, stitches or the caesarean wound, how much you are still bleeding, feeding, bowels, sleep and mood, and checks your blood pressure. Heat and oil therapies are planned only once fever, infection and raised blood pressure have been ruled out.
Shareera Abhyangam is the daily thread of the programme: a full-body massage with warm medicated oil, followed by a warm herbal bath. Dhanwantharam Thailam, made in the hospital’s own pharmacy, is one oil traditionally used for it, and the choice is made after consultation.
Navara Kizhi, with boluses of rice cooked in milk and herbs, follows once digestion has recovered, with the aim of rebuilding strength. Prishta Vasti holds warm oil along the spine that carried the pregnancy, and Podi Kizhi, a warm herbal powder bolus, may be used where the back or hips stay stiff and heavy.
Internal medicines are prescribed after consultation: a digestive preparation in the first days, then medicines to rebuild strength and support milk, each checked against breastfeeding. A long labour, a caesarean, a heavy blood loss or twins each change what the body needs, so no two plans are the same.
The programme runs for 42 days from delivery. The outline below is the usual shape, and the doctor moves each stage earlier or later to match your recovery.
Week one is rest at home. Food is light and warm, internal medicines for digestion begin, and the family takes over the household so that you only feed, eat and sleep. After a normal delivery, visits to the clinic usually begin in the second week.
Weeks two and three bring daily Shareera Abhyangam and the herbal bath, with the abdomen bound afterwards in a cotton cloth if your obstetrician has no objection. Meals become a little more substantial, and each visit is fitted between two feeds.
In weeks four and five, Navara Kizhi is introduced, and Prishta Vasti is added if the back or pelvis still aches. Tiredness often catches up in this stretch, so the review looks at sleep, mood and milk supply as closely as the body.
In week six, therapy tapers off, Podi Kizhi is used if stiffness remains, and a final review sets out what continues at home. The plan for food, rest and movement after day 42 is written down and timed to fit your obstetrician’s six-week check.
Your obstetrician remains in charge of your recovery from the delivery itself, and your paediatrician of the baby. Keep your six-week check and other follow-ups, and carry on with the iron, calcium and other medicines they prescribed; we never ask you to stop medication prescribed by another doctor.
Go to a hospital immediately with chest pain or sudden breathlessness. Call your obstetrician the same day for a severe headache with blurred vision or swelling of the face and hands, a hot, red, painful area in the breast with fever, or difficulty passing urine. These are not things to save for your next session here.
Tearfulness in the first two weeks is common and usually passes. Low mood, anxiety or a sense of not coping that lasts beyond that is something to raise with your obstetrician or family doctor, and the doctor here asks about it at every review.
Food in the first week is warm, soft and easy to digest: rice gruel, moong dal, well-cooked vegetables and a little ghee, with cumin, dry ginger and garlic as household spices. Richer foods are added as appetite returns, and cold drinks and leftovers are kept out of the mother’s meals.
Rest is part of the treatment. Feed lying on your side when you can, sleep when the baby sleeps, and let someone else settle and burp the baby at night between feeds. After a massage, wipe the breast with warm water before the next feed.
Sri Vinayaga Ayurvibe — 12/597, Main Road, Nethaji Nagar Main Rd, Nookampalayam, Perumbakkam, Chennai 600131. Phone: +91 81229 39197.