Bakera, a herbal steam bath for postnatal care in Minahasa (Indonesia): Documentation of the plants used and assessment of the method

Medicinal plants used in Hmong women's healthcare in northern Thailand

“…In this study informants rarely reported herbal bathing for postpartum treatments even if 'warm showers/baths' have been reported in other studies of the Hmong postpartum treatments (Jambunathan, 1995). Such herbal bathing is also common among other Thai and Southeast Asian cultures (Liulan et al, 2003;Lundh, 2007;Zumsteg and Weckerle, 2007;de Boer and Lamxay, 2009;Lamxay et al, 2011;Panyaphu et al, 2011). In this study, only Boehmeria nivea was said to be used in herbal bathing during the postpartum period.…”

“…In most cultures, pregnancy, childbirth and peuperium are critical periods of human life (Mathews and Manderson, 1981;Jambunathan and Stewart, 1995;Thi, 2004). Many practices, such as dietary restriction, herbal steam baths, mother roasting, are common during the postpartum period in many Southeast Asian cultures (Mathews and Manderson, 1981;Daviau, 2003;Kaewsarn et al, 2003a,b;Liulan et al, 2003;Thi, 2004;Lo, 2007;Lundh, 2007;Zumsteg and Weckerle, 2007;Barennes et al, 2009;de Boer and Lamxay, 2009;Villamin and Villamin, 2009;Lamxay et al, 2011;Panyaphu et al, 2011) and a number of medicinal plants are practices (e.g. Pake, 1987;Spring, 1989;Anderson, 1993;Corlett et al, 2003;Lundh, 2007).…”

“…This has been reported in Minahasa (Indonesia) where reduction of the use of the bakera, a herbal steam bath for postpartum care, was attributed to a general trend to consume western medicine among the young mothers. They considered the preparation of the bakera too troublesome (Zumsteg and Weckerle, 2007). This may also be true for the Hmong.…”

Bathe the baby to make it strong and healthy: Plant use and child care among Saramaccan Maroons in Suriname

“…Bathing babies with herbal mixtures is quite a common practice in many cultures (Hilgert and Gil, 2007;Zumsteg and Weckerle, 2007), but the specific purposes are not always clear. In traditional Chinese communities, herbal baths are not only seen as a remedy to cure diseases, but also as an important way to make babies healthy and strong (Li et al, 2006).…”

Using quantitative indices to evaluate the cultural importance of food and nutraceutical plants: Comparative data from the Island of Bali (Indonesia)

“…In Indonesia, several ethnobotanical studies have, over the last few decades, focused on the use of medicinal plants [25][26][27][28]. Despite this, only a few of the ethnobotanical studies carried out across the whole South East Asia region have focused on medicinal, aromatic, and food plants [18,[28][29][30][31], and only one ethnobotanical study has carried out a quantitative evaluation of biocultural diversity on the island of Bali [32].…”