page_title: Postpartum confinement
section_title: China
hierarchical_section_title: Postpartum confinement / China
caption_attribution_description: A mother feeding her new-born child at breast. Asian Collection
context_page_description: Postpartum confinement refers to a traditional practice following childbirth. Those who follow these customs typically begin immediately after the birth, and the confinement lasts for a culturally variable length: typically for one month or 30 days, up to 40 days, two months or 100 days. This postnatal recuperation can include "traditional health beliefs, taboos, rituals, and proscriptions." The practice used to be known as "lying-in", which, as the term suggests, centres around bed rest. In some cultures it may be connected to taboos concerning impurity after childbirth.
  The custom is well-documented in China, where it is known as "Sitting the month". Japanese women know it as "Sango no hidachi" and Korean women know it as sanhujori, which means "recovery after giving birth". In Latin American countries it is called la cuarentena, i.e. "forty days". In India it is called jaappa; in Pakistan, sawa mahina.
  Postpartum confinement refers both to the mother and the baby. Human newborns are so underdeveloped that pediatricians such as Harvey Karp refer to the first three months as the "fourth trimester".
context_section_description: "Sitting the month": 坐月子 "Zuò yuè zi" in Mandarin or 坐月 "Co5 Jyut2" in Cantonese.  The custom, documented as far back as the year 960, is referred to as 'confinement' as women are advised to stay indoors for recovery from the trauma of birth and feed the newborn baby. Aspects of traditional Chinese medicine are included, with a special focus on eating foods considered to be nourishing for the body and help with the production of breastmilk. In Guangdong and neighboring regions, new mothers are barred from visitors until the baby is 12 days old, marked by a celebration called 'Twelve mornings' (known as 十二朝). From this day onwards, Cantonese families with a new baby usually share their joy through giving away food gifts, while some families mark the occasion by paying tribute to their ancestors. 
  In ancient China, women of certain ethnic groups in the South would resume work right after birth, and allow the men to practice postpartum confinement instead. (See Couvade.)
caption: Chinese painting of a woman breastfeeding her baby, surrounded by supporters
exif: {}