Page 117 - EBOOK_Jamu: The Ancient Indonesian Art of Herbal Healing

shower for 24 hours. The mother can only bathe when her masseur undoes the

cloth each morning. In the old days, these bindings were uncomfortably hot as
there were no fans or air-conditioning.
Jamu was an integral part of this procedure. Nowadays Indonesians buy
new mothers a prettily packaged gift set containing all the mixtures and pills
needed for her confinement. For instance the Mustika Ratu set includes Tapel
Raket Mustika Sejati to cleanse the womb and Minyak Kayu Putih for stomach
ache plus Bubuk Bancar Air Susu, a powder that works in tandem with Jamu
Galian Parem Wangi to ensure the quality and flow of a mother’s milk. This is
important because Indonesian mothers sometimes breastfeed their children up to
the age of three or four years.

Parem Segar Sumyah is another remedy for new mothers. It is a hard,
powder tablet to which warm water and gandapura oil are added. Rubbing this
liquid onto the body is supposed to make it young and healthy again. For
external care, Pilis Wangi is a compress to make the eyes bright and shiny. Jamu
Pulih Balung Sumsum—health-restoring pills made from marrow— are taken
with warm water in the afternoons to ward off tiredness or aches and pains. For
the baby, there is one small bottle of Minyak Telon for rubbing on the skin after