Journal

Notes from our therapists

What our therapists see in the first weeks at home. No scare-mongering — only what we observe.

The notes themselves are written in Chinese, for Chinese-speaking families in Australia. This page is an English guide to what each one covers, so you can see whether it is worth a translation — or worth passing to someone who reads Chinese. Every link opens the Chinese article.

LATEST中文

Pregnant on a student visa: the two-year rule in the OSHC maternity waiting period

“OSHC means waiting a year to be pregnant” has only been half true since July 2025. The government's new OSHC Deed splits the maternity waiting period by policy length: under two years, up to 12 months; two years or more, the line reads Nil. That choice can only be made at the moment you take out the policy — it cannot be made up once you are pregnant.

NO. 12 · 2026.09

11How long does breast milk keep? The Australian room-temperature, fridge and freezer table中文The same question returns four hours, six hours and eight hours, because those figures come from different countries' guidance. In Australia the Breastfeeding Association (ABA), healthdirect and Raising Children all give one table. How long freshly expressed, thawed and rewarmed milk keeps, and what to do for daycare or when the room is over temperature in summer.2026.09 10Booking the six-week postnatal check in Australia, and what it covers中文China's forty-two-day check and Australia's six-week postnatal check fall at a similar point, but who performs it, what is examined and whether you ring up yourself all differ. Covers the free community nurse who visits after discharge, what is checked for mother and for baby, when cervical screening is done alongside it, and several free numbers you can call directly.2026.09 09How long do postpartum bladder leaks last? Three timelines, and a free helpline中文Leaking when you sneeze affects one in three women who have given birth. Most improve, but that comes with conditions: when training can start, how far to take it, and how many weeks of leaking means having someone look. Written to Australian postnatal guidance, with the national free incontinence helpline.2026.09 08When does postpartum hair loss stop? A timeline, and three signals to watch中文Hair coming out in handfuls three or four months after birth reads to most mothers as something being wrong. It has a name (telogen effluvium) and a predictable timeline, and in the great majority of cases it grows back on its own — but a few situations should not simply be waited out.2026.08 07Can you eat that during confinement? Sorting the traditional rules from what you actually need中文No draughts, no washing your hair, nothing cold or raw, no fruit — the confinement list runs into a practical problem in Australia, where the seasons, the housing and the ingredients are all different. Which rules hold up, which are simply carried over, and what that looks like here.2026.08 06Stop deep-massaging engorgement and blocked ducts: the international guidance changed in 2022中文Having someone knead the lump out, and heat before a feed: two habits of decades' standing that the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine's 2022 guidance explicitly no longer recommends. The change is one of direction — engorgement is swelling and inflammation, and the more it is kneaded the more it swells.2026.08 05The second-month fussy stretch: colic, or a growth spurt?中文Hard to settle after the first month, crying at a fixed hour in the evening, waking the moment they are put down — many families read that as not enough milk. Several different things sit under this pattern, and they are handled quite differently, so tell them apart first.2026.08 04Confinement in Sydney: a centre, or someone at home? Six points of comparison中文There are essentially two routes in Sydney — move into a confinement centre, or have someone come to the house. When the prices are close, the real difference is not the service list but whether you want to move, who else is at home, and who adapts to whom.2026.08 03How soon can recovery work start after a caesarean? Go by the incision, not the day count中文A vaginal-birth timeline does not transfer. A caesarean adds an abdominal incision that has to heal, so when belly binding, massage and core work can begin is judged by the state of that incision rather than by how many days it has been.2026.08 02How many fingers of diastasis recti needs work? Three things to look at before you measure中文The line that anything under two fingers can be ignored has circulated for years, and it leaves out the part that matters. What decides whether to act is depth, tension and whether you have symptoms — not the finger count. How to check yourself, and when to have someone look.2026.08 01What belly binding is actually doing: four things to know before you start中文Belly binding is not about cinching inches off. The four questions we are asked most — when you can start, whether it is possible after a caesarean, how long to wear it in a day, and whether it restricts breathing — answered in one place.2026.08

English titles and summaries here describe the Chinese articles; they are not translations of them, and nothing is claimed here that the article does not say. The notes are general experience shared by our therapists and do not replace the diagnosis or advice of your doctor or midwife.