At 08:39 AM 6/25/01, you wrote:
>Hi all,
>
>Time for new discussions.
>
>I had an off-list e-mail from Ritu. Among other things she had this
>interesting tidbit of cultural difference for me.
>
> >I am awe-struck at the thought of you handling the baby by yourself
>after
> >just 5 days. In India, we have a custom that for 40 days after the
>delivery
> >the girl's mother and aunt/grandmother come to take care of the baby
>and the
> >new mother. All the new mommy has to do is sleep, eat and feed the
>baby. And
> >I thought that was hard :o).
>
>So this inspired a thought:
>
>In The Netherlands it used to be the custum that you stayed in the
>hospital for 10 days after delivery. When you returned home you got
>nursing aid to assist you for another week. But during the last few
>years the 'return to nature' movement has been cutting into that
>tradition deeply. Now a days in The Netherlands you are supposed to have
>your baby at home (something I luckily managed to avoid), then get up
>and start caring for the little one as soon as possible. You may slack
>on the household for a bit since assistance in the household is given
>for about 8 days. If you ask me that is way to short. I was really glad
>to have a somewhat longer rest period before I got full responsibillity
>over my household back again. It still is tough but with the aid of
>family it is somewhat managable. It does help that Tom is such an angel.
>I really got lucky on that part. But I do wonder if the Indian custom
>isn't much better. Would be interesting to compare the number of women
>falling into a depression after giving birth in relation to the custom
>regarding the duration of the recovery period.
>
>Any thoughts on this subject perhaps. Are we 'modern' women (;o) )going
>back to business after delivery too quickly and if so does this reflect
>in the number of women going into depression. Are there other post-natal
>traditions perhaps.
>
>Sonja
In the US, getting the mother out of the hospital and back home quickly is
mostly (if not entirely) due to the high cost of hospitalization and the
wish of insurance companies to spend as little as possible.
-- Ronn! :)
