Introduction — postnatal care

Traditional birth assistants and health staff can offer a range of postnatal care for mothers and babies, which may include traditional ceremonies, particularly on return to their community.

In traditional care, after the birth the woman or a birth assistant prepared warm ash or sand to pack onto her abdomen, between her legs, and at the base of her spine. The warmth relieved pain, helped stop bleeding, and reduced the smell of blood and the placenta (baby bag).

After the birth, the mother would take part in a smoking ceremony to give her energy and strengthen her body, provide protection for the mother and the baby, and give the baby a good start in life. Leaves of the mulga tree, emu bush (yellow and pink flowers), stringy bark, or other traditional plants native to a region, were used to make the smoke. In some places a shelter was built with the smoking fire inside. The woman sat over the smoking leaves near the fire to smoke her abdomen and breasts. Smoking the breasts was thought to help the flow of milk.

All parts of baby were held briefly in the smoke. The ceremony was used to invoke health and acceptable social behaviour in the child. For example, if you smoke the baby’s mouth, the child will not swear later. Women may say that a child is aggressive because they were born in hospital and put into water, rather than being smoked and put in the earth.

Aboriginal women traditionally breastfed well into their baby's second or third year. The whole community was accustomed to seeing babies being breastfed. Girls and young women learned about breastfeeding by watching, and would often care for other women's babies. Mothers often fed each other's babies.