What is Mother Roasting?

Mother Roasting* is the practice of actively warming the postpartum woman to encourage her recovery from childbirth. Mother roasting has been practiced in various cultures in different forms throughout history with the common factor being the application of heat.

In Malaysia, a massage with a special, fire-heated stone is wrapped in a cloth and placed on her abdomen. In Thailand, a fire was at the mother's bedside.  She would lie there day and night, rotating her body every half an hour. Among the Native American Hopi tribe, the mother was rested atop a heated bed of sand and sheepskin, and then covered well.

* Lang, R. (1985). Mother Roasting: The use of traditional Chinese medicine in postpartum care [Pamphlet]. Santa Cruz.

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