When Princess Kate quickly appeared in the public eye after giving birth, many people couldn't help but exclaim:
"Don't foreigners go into confinement?"
In fact, different concepts of postpartum recovery in different countries have created different concepts of nursing.
Whites don't seem to have much confinement, and blacks don't have much to say about postpartum taboos.
But Asians, whether yellow or brown, confinement is more strict.
China: Forty days without bathing
Since the beginning of the Song Dynasty, the mainland has had a tradition of confinement.
According to the traditional saying: diseases that fall during the confinement are not easy to raise.
This custom has survived to this day.
Now, "mothers-in-law" over the age of fifty tell their children by word and deed.
After giving birth, children should be "confined", and at least 40 days should not bathe, wash hair, touch cold water, eat raw and cold food.
Don't go out to blow the wind and get cold, otherwise it will leave sequelae to the body.
A 36-year-old professional woman said with emotion that she "did not listen to the old man and suffered losses in front of her eyes."
Ten years after giving birth, the index finger that touched cold water still hurts faintly in the rainy season.
A new mother whose child is only half a year old is relatively trendy and starts bathing a week after giving birth.
I think that the advice of the elderly is just an "empirical talk" in the past when medicine was underdeveloped, and now how can I listen to so many rules?
Moreover, in the past, bathing was a basin bath, which may bring genital infections.
So there is a reason why I haven't bathed for more than a month.
But now that you have switched to showering, you don't have to worry about the diseases caused by bathing.
On the contrary, not bathing may leave a good living environment for bacteria.
Besides, it's not right to not eat raw and cold food.
For example, fruits can supplement a large number of vitamins that the human body lacks.
If you don't eat fruit, you may make yourself lack nutrients and delay the time to recover your body.
Vietnam: There must be a stove under the bed
Vietnam, the mainland's neighbor, is also very particular about confinement.
According to Vietnamese confinement tradition, new mothers must sit on the bed at all times, and there must be a stove under the bed.
Even in summer, you can't stay in an air-conditioned room.
In addition, confinement mainly needs to pay attention to diet.
For example, eat more milk-inducing foods, do not drink vegetable soup, do not eat raw and cold things, cannot bathe often, and so on.
However, now new mothers in Vietnam are no longer so particular about it.
It is even considered that the previous regulations on confinement are unreasonable.
Stoves are rare in summer, because new mothers are still afraid of gas poisoning from stoves.
Due to the fear of heat, it is also common for new mothers to stay in air-conditioned rooms to rest.
Many young mothers in Vietnam now consider themselves trendy women.
I was disgusted by the advice given to those who were in confinement and felt that it was superstition.
For example, most Vietnamese mothers now think that if they are bored in the room, they will go out for a walk.
You can eat as much as you want, including cold food and vegetable soup.
The environment needs to be hygienic and fresh, so you need to bathe frequently, and these are all things that are taboo in traditional confinement.
However, there are also some Vietnamese mothers who do not have good care after confinement, sighing:
When I was young, I didn't understand things, and now I feel that I have sequelae.
Many young Vietnamese mothers have grandmothers with multiple children, and their grandmothers pay attention to confinement when they give birth to each child.
So now many elderly women in Vietnam have better health than young mothers.
Britain: "Confinement" is superstition
So do Westerners sit in confinement?
In fact, as early as more than 20 years ago, there was still a "confinement" saying in the UK.
For example, mothers are required to rest for 10 days after giving birth.
But "confinement" cannot be called a custom, and now it is gradually fading out of people's sight.
Some even believe that confinement is superstition.
Rational British mothers believe that confinement is not superstition, it is just a habit or tradition.
Because the knowledge about confinement nursing cannot be supported by facts and science.
Most British mothers believe that the original tradition of "confinement" may be due to the low level of medical care in the past.
The nutrition of ordinary life is also insufficient, so after giving birth, it is necessary to take good care of women's life and daily life.
However, due to the development of the times and technology, the level of medical treatment has been greatly improved.
People are better nourished and stronger, so some traditional practices may not work.
Currently in the UK, doctors do not have any special restrictions and recommendations on the mother's rest and diet after giving birth.
Of course, if the mother is physically weak, that's another matter, and this may be an isolated phenomenon.
There are also some British mothers who believe that their mothers who have just given birth absolutely need to rest and be taken care of.
Many British mothers have to do a lot of things when they give birth to their first child because they have no one to take care of them.
As a result, my health has been poor, and I often visit the hospital, and it took two years to feel relieved.
With this lesson, some British mothers are focusing on postnatal care when they have a second child.
There are also many British mothers who envy China's tradition of confinement and follow suit.
Ghana: "Confinement" must be bathed
If Westerners do not confinement because of their physical strength, then aren't blacks physically stronger?
In this way, it is speculated that there should be no confinement custom in Africa.
However, through investigation, it was found that blacks also had the saying of "confinement".
It seems that this is not only related to the physical condition of the individual, but more importantly, it is closely related to the cultural practices of the individual people.
In Ghana, women who are in confinement generally need to pay attention to three points:
First, they cannot live "husband and wife life" for three months;
The second is that new mothers should eat food that induces milk;
Third, after giving birth to the baby, it is also recommended for the new mother to stay at home and go out after a week.
But they don't have the taboo of not eating raw and cold food.
Amazingly, in Ghana, new mothers have to take a shower during confinement.
And it can be bathed in cold water, of course, it is recommended to soak in hot water.
This is probably for hygiene, which is diametrically opposed to the Chinese custom of not bathing for more than a month.
From this point of view, different cultural customs and different physical conditions will determine whether you are in confinement or not.
While the custom of confinement has a reason for existence, women in the new era certainly do not have to stick to tradition.
However, we should not completely ignore the "appearance of the elderly", and should use more scientific knowledge to guide life in confinement.
Germany: Doctor brings maternity wine
In Germany, as soon as a child is delivered, the nurse scrubs the child and the mother.
After the birth of the child, the hospital will give each new mother a small bottle of wine, which is said to have the effect of inducing milk.
As long as the mother can move around, she will definitely push the stroller and take the child out for a walk.
They advocate that everything be normal as ever
Most German couples believe that having children is their own choice and has nothing to do with the previous generation.
Therefore, the old people of the previous generation have no obligation to serve you, and when it comes to serving confinement, you can only count on your husband.
United States: Eating ice cubes is not taboo
People in Europe and the United States like to drink ice water and think that warm water is not delicious.
So mothers also drink ice water, eat ice cream, ice cubes.
In the United States, as soon as you get off the operating table, the nurse will pass the ice water.
The obstetrician will sit the woman on an ice pack to make the wound torn from childbirth swollen as soon as possible.
Because if you don't sit on an ice pack, the wound will swell for a week.
Doctors require women to get out of bed 6 hours after birth to facilitate physical recovery and wound healing.
On the second day after giving birth, the mother bathed as usual, and on the third day she put the little one in the basket and carried it around.
One week after giving birth, many people went to work and worked.
Japan: The Donton diet has fruits
China takes confinement very seriously, and there are many such and such rules.
But in Japan it is different.
Japanese mothers use tap water to brush their teeth, wash their faces, and wash their hands.
If there is breast tenderness, nurses usually apply ice packs.
And on the mainland, cold things must not be touched, let alone ice packs.
In the mainland, according to tradition, you cannot eat fruits and cold things during confinement.
But in Japan, there are fruits in Donton, and there are also iced apples, iced milk, and iced tea.
Nutrition during confinement is very important both in Japan and in Japan.
Japanese hospitals are responsible for three meals, and there are special dietitians to match meals.
The main food is rice and miso soup, and meat dishes are sometimes meat, sometimes fish, vegetables, fruits and milk.
There is an afternoon tea in the afternoon, breastfeeding mom, and snacks in the evening.
Chinese pay attention to the fact that you can't see the wind in the confinement, and you have to wear long-sleeved and long-pants.
In Japan, women wear a half-length nightdress, and it is rare to see anyone wearing long pants and socks.
When new mothers in Japan are discharged from the hospital, they wear short summer clothes and sandals barefoot.
There are also many women who come out of the bath in the summer and blow directly into the electric fan.
This is probably unthinkable in China.
In Japan, you can take your child to the hospital for follow-up visits one week after discharge.
Many Japanese mothers can return to normal work and life two or three weeks after giving birth, without special "confinement".