Strange customs for new mothers

It's made of polyester/cotton

A nice poly-cotton apron is an excellent item for blocking low energy alpha particles.  Then again, so is a sheet of paper or the epidermal layer of your skin.

Reminds me of the omnipotent bedsheet that protected me from the hideous and dangerous monsters. It worked only when the sheet was completely covering the head. No parts of the anatomy were allowed to be exposed. Since I am alive today (I checked just to make sure) the bedsheet protecter worked like a charm

bezdomny ex patria has posted something worth reading on this subject and I think everybody should read it.

Why do I say that?

Because he comes from New Zealand, that's why 
 

Our daughter reached 满月 at the end of last week, one month old. Exactly which day depends on which calendar you’re using. This is a big deal here, and it’s not hard to imagine why. It’s not that long ago that, even in the fabled Western developed countries, life, especially in its early stages, was a very precarious experience, somewhat analogous to walking on ice at the top of a cliff. Chinese tradition requires a celebration.

Also, reaching 满月 means my wife and daughter are allowed outside again. One month’s confinement makes no difference to the baby, as she doesn’t know the difference, but it takes quite a toll on a woman who was never suited to the old-fashioned housewifely life. Fortunately a couple of her close friends did come to visit during that first month, and the improvement in my wife’s mood on the arrival of her friends was dramatically heartlifting. If she couldn’t go out, at least a little contact with the outside world would help stop her from going stark raving mad.

And here’s what bugged me about the process: Explaining to other non-Chinese that my wife was 坐月子/in her month of confinement after childbirth generally met with a “Oh, the Chinese are so superstitious!” response. And yes, that is as true as any other gross generalisation. And I was going home to a wife and child who, according to the strictest versions of the traditions, were not allowed to wash in any way for a month. And sometimes it got all a bit too much and my tongue bears the scars of much biting. How can the child of one born and raised in Wellington, of all places, be scared of wind?! And yet the confinement, wrapped up as it may be in so much superstition, fundamentally makes sense. A newborn baby has no immune system – that’s what colostrum is for. Giving birth is a stressful experience, and stress damages the immune system. Keeping mother and child away from the world for a time while they (re)build their immune systems strikes me as a pretty smart thing to do.

Anyway, he can also tell you about the fireworks tradition and the feast tradition.

http://wangbo.blogtown.co.nz/2011/05/06/%E6%BB%A1%E6%9C%88/

A newborn baby has no immune system – that’s what colostrum breast milk is for.

I'm sure the part about being dirty and not washing for a month is REAL helpful in preventing disease too.

As mentioned in another thread the wife just had our second here. Fortunately they have both been bathing daily since coming back from the hospital. I can imagine I would be sleeping in another room (or home) if my wife didn't bathe for a month!
 

I actually did the month inside thing when I had my son, although I drew the line at bathing. For me as a first time mom it was kind of nice not to have to deal with anything besides my new family for a whole month.

With my daughter though I had had enough after about 2 weeks. Since my family came to visit when my daughter was about 10 days old I also wanted to take them out and about a bit so I told my husband I wasn't going to be doing "the month." Luckily with my daughter the recovery from the birth was a lot easier and I overall felt back to normal a lot quicker than I did with my 1st.

I do think there is some folk wisdom in "the month" but if a woman is feeling up to going out then she should be able to. I don't like the pressure placed on new and expecting mothers here and the insinuation that if she goes out of her house (eats cold things, doesn't wear enough clothes, uses the computer, has a pet, etc) she's doing something terrible and possibly even endangering her life, or worse, her baby's life. The attitude towards pregnancy here, in my opinion, sets the stage for what you see later with the coddling of children (spoon feeding until 4 years old, wearing multiple layers of clothing in 80 degree weather, never allowing the child to fall down ... and on and on until you have the end product, the students we all love to complain about!) and is not always a healthy way to look at parenthood. 

The whole haircutting thing also seems a little crazy to me. And my (pregnant) Chinese teacher totally flipped out when I told her it was common for Americans to eat ice cream when pregnant. So common that it was even a joke. She said she would never ever eat cold things because it is 'bad for the baby.'

Did you tell her that sometimes thay add pickles or sardines just to give the ice cream more flavor.

When Ying first came to Texas, she was surprised to see mothers out in the stores with babies only days old.  When she mentioned that Chinese mothers shut themselves and the baby away for a month, all the women said tha they would go stir crazy after just a few days, plus they wanted to get the baby used to normal day to day noises and also get all the foods that couldn't eat (McDonalds, Burger King, Pizza Hut) while pregnant.

As we all know, babies' skulls have a gap that closes later, as they get a bit older.  Did you know that the wind can get into this gap and damage the brain?  A hat must be worn at all times, because a wind can come without warning.  In my small town, the mothers place a needle in the hat to protect against evil spirits.  That's right:  the wind can't get through the hat, and the evil spirits will be impaled upon the needle.  I kid you not.

If I were an evil spirit I'd attempt another approach through an unprotected region.

Hey Paul, that hat is probably made out of the same material as our childhood blankets. You know the one; if a monster came into your bedroom at night, you'd be safe if you could pull that blanket over your head   

It's made of polyester/cotton

http://www.globaltextiles.com/products/detail/81175/Anti-Radiation-Pregnant-Apron-JSS-086403.html
and
http://www.urbanatomy.com/index.php/article/detail/327/magnetic-aprons-and-magic-cacti

Hey Paul, that hat is probably made out of the same material as our childhood blankets. You know the one; if a monster came into your bedroom at night, you'd be safe if you could pull that blanket over your head   

Alas, mine was a multi-sibling handmedown, therefore full of holes, and I fear that the evil spirits did in fact get inside me.  It could explain a lot!

Although there's a hygiene element to some local beliefs, much of this stuff seems to me to be pure superstition, and very dodgy.  I know exactly what would happen if we put a needle in baby's hat....

It's been over 30 degrees (in the nineties, in real degrees) for several weeks now but just about everyone we meet urges us to put more clothes on the girl to prevent her catching a cold.

It is almost worth having a kid just to witness this. Wait.... no it isn't 

Re: radiation apron

It seems everyone at my company is in their prime marriage/getting pregnant time. These aprons are everywhere. Honestly, I think the aprons are just as much about letting other people know they are pregnant (e.g. on the bus) as blocking radiation.

I feel coddled enough by the future in-laws as it is (brush your teeth with warm water! the sun is out! where's your umbrella???!) I think having their grandchild here would drive me INSANE!

It is almost worth having a kid just to witness this. Wait.... no it isn't 

Hmmm, maybe, maybe not.  It gives you a great insight into the Chinese (maternal) mind -  and Chinese mothers (or, more likely, grandmothers) shape their sons, our beloved students.

Today in the market, baby was subjected to things that in the western world would be considered assault. All very nice and 'helpful' though. 

Radiation aprons haven't reached Xiangxi yet.  I can see a business opportunity here. There's a strange demographic:  all the females in the town who aren't grannies or children are pregnant.