一双手在产后妈妈的腹部做按摩，产妇身上盖着白色床单与灰色毛巾，头边是灰色枕头，室内自然光

Journal

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; every link opens the Chinese article.

NO. 20 · RECOVERY · 2026.09.18中文

How long does postpartum bleeding (lochia) last? The Australian normal range, and three reasons to get help

Bright red again on a certain day at home, or a clot coming out — normal contraction, or a reason to call someone that day? Drawing on Queensland Health's parent material, the Royal Women's Hospital in Melbourne, Queensland Ambulance Service clinical guidelines and NSW Health's Chinese leaflet: how Australia views postnatal bleeding, when it stops for most people, what size of clot is common, and which signs cannot wait until tomorrow.

Read (in Chinese)

All Recovery Confinement Baby Australia guide20 notes

产后妈妈腰腹部的特写，米白色棉布扎肚带一层层系好，一只手正拉住布带的边缘，室内自然光

19Can an Australian baby be out in the sun? Sun protection and vitamin D中文Taking the baby out for some sun is the most natural thing for many Chinese families — for jaundice, or for calcium. In Australia it works the other way: Cancer Council's line is UV 3, babies under 12 months should not be in direct sun, and parts of NSW sit above UV 3 right through winter.NO. 19 · Baby · 2026.09.17Baby2026.09.17

一位妈妈站在自家客厅里，灰色 T 恤下是一圈圈裹好的白色棉布扎肚带，身旁是绿植与木架，墙上挂着一幅抽象画

18Car seats in Australia: bringing your newborn home from hospital中文The step that most often holds things up on discharge day is the seat in the car. Australian law sets rules by age: under 6 months must be rear-facing, and the seat must meet the Australian/New Zealand standard AS/NZS 1754 — one brought from China or the US is illegal to use here.NO. 18 · Baby · 2026.09.16Baby2026.09.16

妈妈抱着出生不久的宝宝低头看着，身旁的长辈一同俯身，背景墙上挂着 BABY 字母气球和彩色圆点装饰

17Newborn screening in Australia: what the heel prick tests, and how the hearing screen works中文Babies born in Australia have a heel prick at 48 to 72 hours and a hearing screen before going home, and what you find searching in Chinese is mostly about mainland China's tests. Following NSW Health's own parent booklet: which seven conditions are screened for, why your signature is needed, why nobody calls when results are normal, how long the blood card is kept, and whether being asked to repeat the hearing screen means there is a hearing problem.NO. 17 · Baby · 2026.09.13Baby2026.09.13

16How long does newborn jaundice last? The Australian guidance, and when to see someone中文Noticing the baby looks yellow on day three, the answers in Chinese chat groups are usually sunlight, stopping breast milk, or a remedy to drink — Australian guidance for parents either does not mention these or says not to. Based on current material from the Sydney Children's Hospitals Network, Queensland Health and the Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne: when jaundice usually appears, when it should have cleared, which signs mean being seen the same day, and who to call if the baby looks more yellow in the night.NO. 16 · Baby · 2026.09.12Baby2026.09.12

妈妈抱着约一岁的宝宝侧头看着她，爸爸在一旁伸手扶着孩子，背景是气球布置的生日会场

15Can you take medicine while breastfeeding? Which number to ring in Australia中文Whether you can take something for a cold, and whether to pump and discard afterwards: answers in Chinese chat groups mostly come from mainland Chinese drug-classification tables, while Australia has dedicated medicines lines to call. What NSW's MotherSafe is, why it serves NSW only and has two numbers, what the national medicines line and the Breastfeeding Association helpline each cover, a few principles for medicines while breastfeeding, and when “pump and dump” actually applies.NO. 15 · Australia guide · 2026.09.11Australia guide2026.09.11

14Your baby's Blue Book: the Australian child health check schedule中文The nurse hands over a small blue book at discharge, and many families put it in a drawer until someone asks whether they brought it. It is the main health record from birth until school: which ages the checks fall at, why the first one happens at your home, how to ask for an interpreter, how to replace a lost book, and the half-sentence at the four-year check that concerns Centrelink but applies only to some families.NO. 14 · Australia guide · 2026.09.10Australia guide2026.09.10

13Tummy sleeping, shaping pillows, sharing a bed: what Red Nose says in Australia中文Older relatives say tummy sleeping gives a nice head shape, that a shaping pillow is needed, and that holding the baby to sleep is the safest — Australia's guidance differs on all three. Red Nose's six safe-sleep recommendations, when to stop swaddling, what to change once the baby can roll, what should not be in the cot, and whether there is really a set room temperature, point by point from Australian sources, with a Chinese handout to print for grandparents and numbers you can call.NO. 13 · Baby · 2026.09.09Baby2026.09.09

12Pregnant on a student visa: the two-year rule in the OSHC maternity waiting period中文“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 · Australia guide · 2026.09.08Australia guide2026.09.08

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.NO. 11 · Australia guide · 2026.09.08Australia guide2026.09.08

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.NO. 10 · Australia guide · 2026.09.07Australia guide2026.09.07

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.NO. 09 · Recovery · 2026.09.02Recovery2026.09.02

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.NO. 08 · Recovery · 2026.08.30Recovery2026.08.30

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.NO. 07 · Confinement · 2026.08.29Confinement2026.08.29

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.NO. 06 · Recovery · 2026.08.28Recovery2026.08.28

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.NO. 05 · Baby · 2026.08.27Baby2026.08.27

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.NO. 04 · Confinement · 2026.08.26Confinement2026.08.26

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.NO. 03 · Recovery · 2026.08.24Recovery2026.08.24

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.NO. 02 · Recovery · 2026.08.22Recovery2026.08.22

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.NO. 01 · Recovery · 2026.08.20Recovery2026.08.20

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.

BINDING · DIASTASIS · PELVIC FLOOR

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CONFINEMENT · NANNIES · BABY CARE

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