Mark Woods: Family Matters

Not all traditions where children and childhood are concerned are worth hanging on to, despite our tendency to romanticise the past. A friend of Indian heritage who recently had her first baby told me of a tradition from her ancestral homeland though which  has not only battled to survive in the modern world, but cries out to be resurrected here too.

For many mothers in India some form of the ancient 40-day recuperation period after giving birth is still followed, with friends and family looking after the new mum while she gets to know her baby and recovers from the ordeal of birth. All of which seems the least new mothers deserve – if of course they’d find it helpful and not stifling. This post birth period of calm isn’t exclusive to the Indian subcontinent either. Very similar traditions exist across China, South Korea and Vietnam, where new mums spend a month resting indoors, usually looked after by their family who take on the cooking and washing duties and generally keep the new mother away from any physical activity other than feasting on five warm meals a day, with copious bowls of chicken soup and other delicacies which are thought to stimulate the milk supply, and restore health.

It’s a similar story in Japan too where the tradition that women stay in bed with their baby for 21 days still lingers in some shape or form. During this time friends may drop by to greet the new baby and join the family in eating the celebratory food osekihan, a wholesome mixture of red rice with red beans. Across Latin America there’s also a strikingly similar 40 day postpartum period called la cuarentena or the quarantine – which seems much nicer than it sounds! Again, primarily facilitated by female relatives rest is obligatory, wholesome plain food prepared and provided. Even Europe still has the odd remnant too with some Greek mothers doing something similar.

And what do our new mums get? A lasagne and a helium balloon if they’re lucky! Whatever the origins of this particular tradition though, one thing is for sure the new mothers of the UK could do with it making a comeback.

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