Postpartum temazcal: an ancestral tradition

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The postpartum temazcal is a Mexican ancestral tradition that exists in different cultures since pre-Hispanic times and has been passed down from generation to generation. According to the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE), this word is of Nahuatl origin –temazcalli– and means “low adobe house where steam baths are taken”.

Currently, although the structural way of performing it has changed, this ritual continues to be carried out in many regions of our country. Women, mainly grandmothers, mothers-in-law, sisters or aunts, are the ones who have been in charge of the postpartum temazcal. “Those are the ones who transmit and pass this ritual from generation to generation”, says María Dolores Sangrador Melchor, a member of the Nanabi women’s cooperative.

The temazcal is a traditional ceremonial and therapeutic steam bath from Mesoamerica. Its origin is pre-Hispanic. It was used by women in labor after giving birth. The purpose: physical and symbolic cleaning.

“The temazcal in the traditional culture of health and Mesoamerican ethnomedicine”, Alfonso Aparicio Mena, Gazeta de Antropología.

A pre-Hispanic ceremony

María Dolores, an herbalist from Tlaxcala, has been performing this ceremony for 15 years. This ritual is inherited from her ancestors, “Doing a postpartum temazcal in a traditional way is a lesson I received from my tribe to celebrate and accompany the woman who becomes a mother and help her find balance”.

In her family, when a woman had given birth, the temazcal was held the day after the birth of the baby. The mother of the new mother went to the mountains to look for the herbs and the man lit the temazcal. A hen was also killed to prepare a broth and serve it hot to the new mom.

In María Dolores’s experience, “The postpartum temazcal helps “the milk let-down” and to remove air bags, as well as to balance the temperature of the woman, detoxify the body and dispose of the residues of some medications that have been used during labor”. Also “the hip bones close and the uterus gradually takes its place”.

Alcina Franch, in her book about the Aztecs, underlines the importance of the temazcal bath after childbirth, “Through the ritual bath, the body and spirit of the woman in labor were cleaned”.

A shelter among women

The great-great-grandmothers, great-grandmothers, grandmothers and mothers, made the postpartum temazcal with the purpose of accompanying the great-granddaughter, granddaughter, daughter or niece, “So that she recognized herself as a mother, was more aware of her motherhood and could enjoy it”, says Leticia Rodríguez Serrano, midwife from the School of Professional Midwives with a Professional Certificate.

She adds that this bath also has the purpose of listening to the woman, the partner, the older children, if there were any. The temazcal can be private, with the family or shared with other women.

“The postpartum temazcal is to give support to women. A support for that new mother who does not know what to do and who feels pain: pain in her body, in her breasts, in her soul”.

Leticia Rodriguez, midwife.

The temazcal offers warmth in all senses: to the uterus and to the body, but also it is a shelter for women: “Listening to them and providing them with support is empowering them to have self-confidence and to be able to have an organic upbringing of the baby”, says the expert, who belongs to the group of midwives and perinatal educators of Ticime Midwives.

How is it done?

The traditional postpartum temazcal is made in a small room and, at a corner, some water is poured over heated volcanic stones causing steam come out. This can be adapted and done at the woman’s home, eight or fifteen days after having the baby. Or, after quarantine.

The only requirement is that, if she had a C-section, she no longer has the stitches. Likewise, a preliminary interview is done to find out if she has high blood pressure or glucose, or some other illness.

Translated by: Ligia M. Oliver Manrique de Lara  

Spanish Version

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