How long will you wash hair after you gave birth?

I see in some boxes their is talk about taking baths, but you ask about washing the hair. It is safe to take a shower and wash your hair within hours of giving birth as long as the birth was natural and had no medical problems. Now if you are talking about a bath, a bath is not permitted right away because the canal is opened and more than likely tearing during the process. So if a woman took a bath, sitting in water that doesn't move, can bring infection to the opening and cause more problems. Here in America, we are given a sitz bath, a tub with a hose that shoots water in that area to clean it, but the water is moving, preventing infection and dirty water from hitting the area.

Ick I couldn't do that either and I've never heard of this tradition but I'm from Australia so I guess it's an overseas custom? The absolute longest that I would want to leave my hair is 3 days and then I want to wash it. It seems like a strange tradition though. Why would you want to be so dirty after child birth? Wouldn't you want to be nice and clean for the baby?

why is that a tradition? sounds sort of funny. reminds me of a story where a newlywed always cut off both ends of a roast and when her new husband asked why, she simply told him it was a tradition and so the new husband asked his new mother in law. she told him that that was the way her mother always used to make a roast. well then, he asked his new grandmother in law about why the women in the family cut off the ends of the roast. know what the grandmother said? she cut off the ends of the roast because they wouldn't fit in the pan! i think it is safe to wash your hair after giving birth. i wouldn't want to wait a whole month. imagine how itchy your scalp would be and how greasy your hair would be? yuck!

Hello youless, In our tradition bath is having much importance after delivery. I started to take our bath on the second day of delivery itself that also in hospital. In hospital, staff is providing lukewarm water for bath. Then once you reach home, you may get proper bath, which means applying ayurvedic medicated oil in body and coconut oil for hair. The water (for body) is preparing by adding so many medicinal herbs and boil it then allow this water to cool enough to use for bath. For head, use only plain cold water to wash it. In our belief the bath in proper way is improving the health of the mother so it is inevitable if there is no complication to mother after giving birth.

It is that way here too, my mom would not let me take a bath after giving birth as she says i might get sick but i disobeyed her as i feel so filthy and dirty! So i took a bath 3 days after giving birth as it was also approved by my ob-gyne.. which i know infuriated my mom.

This is also a common tradition here in our country. In olden times and even this modern times, some women still follow this tradition. They don't take a bath till one month after giving birth. I had my hair wash in parlor a week after I gave birth since I delivered my kids thru c/s operation. I can't directly take a bath due to the wound so I have to bath my body very carefully not to wet my tummy and had my hair done at the parlor. On the second week, after the wound looks fine, then I finally had my regular bath (with lukewarm water)

I washed my hair about two days after giving birth. Maybe long ago there was not a modern heating or bathing system and people might get too cold and get ill, but now, taking a shower or bath and washing our hair feels good.

Wow that is really gross. I cannot imagine going a month without washing my hair. Within a day of not washing it my hair gets greasy and doesnt smell that great. A month it would be terrible. I dont see what the reason is for that tradition but like you even if it was a tradition here I wouldnt do it anyway lol. I gave birth to both my kids in the morning and took showers at night time before I went to bed.

hi youless as soon as I got home from the hospital I washed my hair 'and showered much to my mom's shock. this is such an old wives tale'that nobody should listen to that any more.to my cleanliness is next to Godliness.

You're right - it doesn't make sense. In the US, we call something like that an Old Wives' Tale. My sister in law used to not let her daughters bathe while they were on their monthly cycle because she believed that taking a bath during that time would make them fat. My grandmother was taught to never get wet during that time of the month because it was harmful. My mother-in-law believed if a baby looked into a mirror, its eyes would roll backwards. There are so many funny beliefs that just don't make sense at all. Yours sounds like another one. There is nothing at all wrong with washing your hair after giving birth. Millions of us have done it without being harmed.

Hi yl, that is a super unique tradition. I could not imagine the flock of lice roaming around the scalp within that period of time. It's a bit long. But I am happy to know that it is okay to just wash the hair after going home from the hospital. :-)