We thought about it and figured that the nanny probably got away with knowing little because she was probably assigned to people who were new parents and didn't know much about confinement practices, or people who just didn't care too much.  

A friend also experienced the same thing.  She too knew that her agency nanny was incompetent because she had a good nanny before.  The second one had to be taught what to do.

Hence, these days, I am of the opinion that if you are hiring a confinement nanny, it is better to do so through word of mouth recommendation of people whom you know and trust.  Having said that, it is still important that you ask and check thoroughly to ensure that the recommended nanny fulfills your requirements.  As I said before, confinement practice varies from person to person, so the nanny may be very good but may not suit your particular requirements.

Foreign Domestic Worker

This is another alternative you can consider, especially if you are not particular about confinement practices and you are already hiring a foreign domestic worker or intent to do so.

You can try to train your foreign domestic worker to cook some confinement dishes before your baby arrives.  During your confinement, you can instruct her to cook the dishes that she learned.  Besides cooking, you may also need to train her in basic baby care.  If you are not sure about confinement practices yourself, you can prepare by asking around, and getting some confinement food recipe books.  Nowadays, such recipe books are easily available in book shops.

We used this arrangement for my 3rd confinement and it worked out fine.  At least, my FDW won't complain about having to do housework (as some confinement nannies would).

Confinement Food Delivery

This is yet another option if you just want a simple confinement.  If you have someone helping you with housework and baby care, e.g. Foreign Domestic Worker, but don't have anyone to take care of the cooking, you can consider ordering confinement food delivery, or locally known as tingkat meals.  There are companies dealing with confinement food.  I have not tried the quality of the food though.

DIY

Last option is not to have a formal confinement.  I know of people who basicallly get back to normal life just within days after delivery a baby.  While this is not impossible, I personally am not in favour of it.  The main reason is because I feel that it is important for the mother to have adequate rest and the time to get to know the new baby and bond with the baby.  Even if you are an experienced mom, no two babies are alike and you will need the time to get to know the new baby.

Confinement is not something that only the Chinese practises.  Across many cultures, confinement or babymoon is a common practice.  The time period and the specific practices may differ from culture to culture.  But the common idea is that this is the time for the mother to recuperate from her 9 months pregnancy and her labour.

Hence, I find that instead of trying to be too gungho, why not just take the time to rest and relax?  Even if you are the type who can't sit still for a moment, it is still good to just slow down your pace for one month and enjoy your baby.  Even if you do not subscribe to the confinement practices of your culture, there is no harm just taking things a bit leisurely for a while.  Work will always be there.  But you can never get back the precious time with a new baby.