Library

Decoction for Promoting Lactation.

Crucian carp (one, seven cun in length) Pig fat (half a jin, sliced) Loulu (Radix Dipsaci) Shizhongru (Hematitum, each eight liang)

The above four ingredients: slice the pig fat. The carp does not need to be washed or prepared. Combine with one dou and two sheng of clear wine and decoct together. When the fish is cooked and the medicine is ready, strain to remove the dregs. Take at a suitable temperature, divided into five doses. The interval between doses should be short; it is best to drink them in succession so that the medicinal force is continuous, and the milk will flow.

(Eight categories in total)

(One treatise with five articles, twenty prescriptions)

The treatise states: Women need not only worry during childbirth but must also be extremely cautious postpartum; critical and dangerous conditions often arise at this time. Do not indulge your desires and act recklessly just because there were no complications during delivery. Although the initial transgression may be as slight as an autumn hair, the resulting disease can be as vast and heavy as Mount Song and Mount Tai. Why? Because diseases occurring after childbirth are more difficult to treat than other illnesses. After giving birth, the five zang organs are deficient and weak; only tonification should be employed, never purgation. If illness occurs, do not use drugs indiscriminately. Using purgatives will further increase deficiency; in a state of increased deficiency, the path to recovery becomes distant. Therefore, within the first hundred days postpartum, women require diligent care and caution, avoiding indulgence, transgressions, and immediate sexual intercourse. If such precautions are violated, the body may become stiff and rigid, resembling opisthotonos (postpartum wind-induced convulsions), known as "Chufeng" (Puerperal Wind). This is the manifestation of violating taboos. If symptoms resemble opisthotonos, life hangs by a thread like a candle in the wind. All women should reflect deeply on this. A slight negligence, treating illness lightly, can lead to sudden incapacitation with no means of seeking help. Even if great wealth is spent to seek medical aid from everywhere, physicians may not understand this condition. Even if a physician arrives, life may already be gone. Students of medicine must master this prescription thoroughly and not treat it as an ordinary formula. Special attention should be paid to avoiding defecation in open toilets; using a chamber pot indoors is preferable.

Only after one hundred days postpartum may sexual intercourse resume; otherwise, deficiency and weakness will persist until death, leading to the proliferation of various diseases. Caution is essential.

All women suffer from "wind qi" and coldness below the umbilicus, primarily due to premature sexual activity after childbirth.

Within the first seven days postpartum, when lochia (evil blood) has not yet cleared, decoctions should not be taken. Wait until the masses below the umbilicus dissipate before administering mutton soup. This exception does not apply to cases with severe pain.

After two or three days, Zelan Wan (Zelan Pill) may be taken. It is best to finish the pills by the end of the first month. Otherwise, deficiency and damage cannot be restored. For those who are extremely emaciated and incurable, Wushi Zelan Wan (Five-Stones Zelan Pill) should be administered. During the confinement period, Zelan Wan must be taken for supplementation. It must not be taken earlier than seven days postpartum.

For women who give birth during the hot summer months and consume too much cooling substances, contracting wind-cold, leading to abdominal accumulations and the onset of numerous diseases that persist until old age and resist all treatments, Taoren Jian (Taoren Decoction) is indicated. It should be taken after leaving the confinement period. Even if a woman is healthy, she should take one or two doses every autumn and winter, continuing regular consumption throughout the year for optimal benefit.