Chinese Taboo: Postpartum Recovery
In Asian countries and some parts of Europe, people still practice postpartum recovery, based on the ground that post pregnancy recovery would help new mothers recover from exhausted state and promote breast milk. According to Yin and Yang theory in Chinese medicine, a month’s of rest and strictly nutritious diets is beneficial for new mothers to keep their Yin and Yang balance. In this paper, I am going to introduce how Chinese postpartum recovery processes in terms of diets, taboos, and popularities to arouse the significance of postpartum recovery.
What is Zuo Yue Zi?
The English term "Postpartum recovery" is translated into Chinese as "Zuo Yue Zi" (Chien, 2008), which is a traditional Chinese custom of confining new mothers to their home for a month. During the period of time, their mother-in-law or some nannies employed will take care of them, according to traditional Chinese medicine theories and certain diets. Herbs and dishes will help mother's recovery from losing of energy after spontaneous labor or cesarean section. In other words, the loss of energy is equivalent to the loss of Yang.
Lots of women consider the thirty days of confinement as suffering due to the monotonous food variety, while a few hold different opinions that they enjoy the 5 stars service of being taken care. During Zuo Yue Zi, women are not allowed to go outside to do exercise, take a bath, and eat cold food or food with cold features. "According to Chinese medical beliefs, all illnesses come about owing to the imbalance between Yin and Yang within a person. The imbalance can result from excess elements" (Matuszak, 2010). Therefore, in the belief of Chinese traditional values and fear of being ill, almost every w...
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Pregnancies are often correlated with the assumption that it will bring happiness to the household and ignite feelings of love between the couple. What remains invisible is how the new responsibilities of caring and communicating with the baby affects the mother; and thus, many women experience a temporary clinical depression after giving birth which is called postpartum depression (commonly known as postnatal depression) (Aktaş & Terzioğlu, 2013).
Transcultural nursing is a critical component of the nursing profession in an ever-changing culturally diverse world. The patient’s social and cultural dissimilarities are important for the nurse to recognize and acknowledge. This will help to prevent the imposition of the nurse’s beliefs onto the patient. The Japanese culture beliefs are incommensurable to American cultural beliefs in how they approach the process of labor and delivery. Nursing interventions should therefore be reflective and comprehensible to that of the Japanese cultural beliefs.
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Having a child can be the happiest moment of a person’s life. A sweet little baby usually gives new parents tremendous joy. That joy can be accompanied with anxiety about the baby and the responsibility the new parents are faced with. The anxiety, in most cases, fades and joy is what remains. For some new mothers, however, the joy is replaced with a condition known as postpartum depression. “Postpartum depression is a serious disorder that until recently was not discussed in public…Women did not recognize their symptoms as those of depression, nor did they discuss their thoughts and fears regarding their symptoms” (Wolf, 2010). As such, postpartum depression is now recognized as a disorder harmful to both mother and infant, but, with early detection, is highly treatable with the use of psychotherapy, antidepressants, breastfeeding, and other natural remedies, including exercise.
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When a woman gives birth to a child, it can be one of the most joyous and exciting moments in her life, yet it can also be diff...
Getting a massage with jan, and learning even more about traditional chinese medicine has motivated me to seek out other forms of traditional chinese forms of healing such as reflexology, acupuncture and a more structured form of meditation. Jan explained that life is all about balance, and even in western medicine, when balance is off problems form. It has made me think even more about how out of balance people are, and how much commitment it takes to be in constant balance especially with the large amount of technology, and poor diets in today’s society.
Yang, Gene Luen, and Lark Pien. American Born Chinese. New York: First Second, 2006. Print.
However, according to the doctors, the cause of my mother’s stiff shoulders is due to menopause. When she discussed her symptoms of menopause with my grandma, my grandma thought it was strange that my mother needed to seek medical help for her symptoms. Although my grandma has experienced the same symptoms, she has regarded as a normal process of life, rather than a medical issue. This shows how the medicalization of menopause can affect medical treatment for women and shape women’s understanding and behaviour in relation to seeking medical help when it might be unnecessary. This article does not address how the political economy can shape cultural construction of illness. Due to globalisation, many Asian countries have adopted the western medical model, while traditional Chinese medical model has declined. Although there is still illness that reflects cultural bias, Asian countries have increasingly been following the path of western society in constructing illness. One example is the medicalization of lactose intolerance in China. Prior to the introduction of cow’s milk, lactose intolerance was not perceived as a medical issue. Since milk has become a part of Chinese diet, lactose intolerance has become abnormal and perceived as a medical issue. Many Chinese today continue to suffer from lactose intolerance, since the consumption of cow’s milk is a recent phenomenon from the west. We must look at how
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