Postpartum: the 4th Trimester

Have the courage to ask for help

Around the world, the postpartum period is considered a special time — a time in which a mother, as well as a baby, is born. In many cultures, women are not expected to carry on their usual lives, but are protected and secluded.

Postpartum traditions around the world

In the Indian Ayurvedic tradition, new mothers stay at home and are pampered for 40 days after birth. Because this period of rest is considered vital to protect the delicate nervous systems of both mother and infant, few visitors are allowed.

• In Mexico, the 40-day seclusion period is called the cuarentina
• In Japan, a new mother is treated as if she were the baby — she’s put to bed for 30 days and waited on while she recuperates from the birth.
• In parts of Southeast Asia, a father begins to collect wood during the pregnancy, stacking it in a special place, and reserving it for a practice called “mother-warming.” After the birth, the house is closed up and a sign on the front door announces the new arrival, letting the community know that the new family needs quiet time. The father lights a fire next to or beneath the mother’s bed, and she and the new baby are wrapped in warm blankets. Mother and baby are kept inside this…