Is 1 month of confinement a must?

You don’t really need to hire a “professional” CL. In my opinion and experience, as long as you have someone to help you with preparing the food, taking over the baby for a while and other doing some chores, you’ll be fine. I gave birth twice - in my first one, my parents were there. In the 2nd one, my distant relative/helper was there. When it comes to food, I don’t believe in the concept of heaty and cooling food. If it’s healthy, eat it. 😆 To add on, I wasn’t too weak to do anything. I still washed bottles, cook simple food and vacuumed the house.