Q: Good evening ma’am. Please, I have a question for you…after giving birth I didn’t really take ‘udah’ n ‘aju Mbaise’ because the udah was giving me seriously tummy bite so I stopped taking it and I did exclusive breastfeeding just for 1month. I met with a doctor and I told her about this and she screamed and told me that it’s only those things that can contract the womb after child birth. I am really scared. Please, Doc does this mean my womb is still open? I will really love to have more kids. Thanks

A: Hi dear, thanks for writing in. If you’d like to have more kids…then more kids you’ll have! Provided that there is no other issue except the ‘herbs/spices’ you didn’t take 😀 I believe these are spices used to make Nigeria’s speciality pepper soup for women who just delivered. I understand the spices are meant to increase blood flow and help the tummy return to its normal size. The good news is, you don’t need the soup to have good blood flow or for your tummy to return to normal size.

Exclusive breastfeeding, usually, is for 6 months after which other feeds are added. Aim to do this for your next baby…except there’s a medical reason why this cannot happen. Breastfeeding helps the process of the womb contracting and returning to its normal size (involution). This process takes about 6 to 8 weeks and the womb (uterus) should be back to its pre-pregnancy state. Note that I said that breastfeeding speeds up this process, but even without it, the uterine involution continues. Trust me, I didn’t have the Mbaise udah and aju and I managed to have three children with no issues and my womb is absolutely NOT open! 😀

So, relax. Your womb is not open…unless you have some retained products of conception in there etc and not because you didn’t have the pepper soup. Retained products would present with bleeding (amongst other symptoms) and your doctor would know and take appropriate actions.

For more on your tummy after your baby, please click on this link:

Daily Health Tip: my tummy after my baby

Mbaise people on this page, feel free to tell us more about what these ‘spices’ are meant to do.

Have a good night y’all 😀