Confinement practices are part of the cultural tradition of sitting the month postpartum - where one is confined to their house to recover after giving birth. Sitting the month has a particular focus on dietary therapy to help heal the body gently. Herbal soups and broths are taken to replenish vital substances lost during delivery and to prevent illnesses from occurring while the body is in a depleted state. More on sitting the month here.

As such, I often give my clients bags of herbs to make broth or drop off a fresh batch following a birth. This is my current go-to broth recipe, delicious and full of tonifying & replenishing herbs. It freezes well, so I often make an extra large batch and store some for later use. It can be taken by the mug full as a supportive drink, used to cook rice or quinoa, or as the base for traditional confinement soup recipes.

Ingredients

chicken bones - I use a whole carcass for a large batch
if you don’t eat meat 2 cups chopped shiitake or maitake work well in place
4-5 stalks green onion
4 lobes of garlic
2 inch piece of ginger, sliced
3-4 Chinese dates
2 tbsp Goji berries
4 sticks of Huang Qi - Astragalus
small handful Dang Gui - Angelica
one whole lemon, halved
1-2 cups chopped veggies or veggie ends - carrots, celery, etc
salt & pepper

Directions: place all ingredients in a large stock pot & fill with water. Bring to a boil, cover with lid and reduce to simmer for at least 2 hours - longer is better with bones. Strain off broth & refill water to boil a second batch of broth if desired.