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muyongshi -

Can anyone tell me from a impartial perspective if there is any really use in modern day society
for this practice? I would think if there was western medicine would have something to say about
it...

I understand the practice and after reading this have a relatively good idea as too what is being
done by Chinese now but still feel that much of it is blown out of proportion.

Obviously a lot of rest is needed and there is a recovery period but what is that recovery period
like in terms of length? Is it to the pint now where this is merely cultural and not at all
necessary (in the Chinese practice- not resting and recovering)?

Any views would be appreciated...

P.S. I'm not a woman so I won't be able to understand from a personal perspective some of the
things that will be mentioned.



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studentyoung -



Quote:

I would think if there was western medicine would have something to say about it...

I think most western doctors don’t understand that there are great differences between western
people’s constitution and Chinese people’s. (This is the key point here. If you can’t
understand this, you can’t understand why Chinese women need to 坐月子.)



Quote:

Obviously a lot of rest is needed and there is a recovery period but what is that recovery period
like in terms of length?

The one month period is because the lochia (恶露) usually stops after a month.



Quote:

Is it to the pint now where this is merely cultural and not at all necessary (in the Chinese
practice- not resting and recovering)?

It is not merely cultural and not at all necessary. It is because Chinese women’s constitution
and the clinical experience gained in Chinese people’s life for thousands of years.

Thanks!










roddy -

Oh go on then, I'll bite. What are the major differences between the constitutions of Chinese
people and Western people? I'm sure our ABC members will be eager to hear . . .










heifeng -

hehe to westerners isn't it just called maternity leave.... whether or not it is a month will just
depend on your company and~I would figure they wouldn't want you hanging around right after having
a kid to lower their liabity if something happened to you...plus your productivity afterwards must
be low with all that required milking or something...

________
another of heifeng's non value adding comments










muyongshi -

Studentyoung I must say that was the most uninformative and absolutely biased response... I was
hoping for something a little more scientific.... (i.e. proof)

And heifeng I agree but we don't have "rituals" surrounding it. And oh Lord help the poor fool who
would tell an woman in the states that she couldn't shower after just having a baby...










studentyoung -



Quote:

What are the major differences between the constitutions of Chinese people and Western people?

I think it is really hard to explain, especially I can’t tell the major differences very
clearly. But I can try to let you understand that by showing you an extreme case.

In India, people have no problem with their tap water, which is from Gangers River. They can drink
it without getting any trouble. But foreigners in India are not so luckily. When their bodies
don’t seem accept the water at all, ever the water has been boiled long enough to kill the germs
in it. Very often, they have loose bowels, and some even get a fever.

Surely enough, you know the great differences between the constitutions of those local Indians and
those foreigners, but can you tell me what are these differences?



Quote:

Studentyoung I must say that was the most uninformative and absolutely biased response... I was
hoping for something a little more scientific.... (i.e. proof)

All I can tell you is that the factors like food, water, whether, geographical position make
people in one place differ from those in other place.



Quote:

And oh Lord help the poor fool who would tell an woman in the states that she couldn't shower
after just having a baby...

（啊，上帝啊，请你原谅他吧，他不知道自己在说些什么！）I don’t think
you understand the conditions between most China’s rural towns and most US cities. After having
a baby, a woman usually is tired and weak. If she gets a shower at this time at any common
farmer’s house, where no air-condition is provided and also is in poor sanitary conditions, she
might get a cold or even infection very easily. Though she usually is not allowed to have a
shower, she can still use a hot towel to clean her body.

Thanks!










muyongshi -



Quote:

In India, people have no problem with their tap water, which is from Gangers River. They can drink
it without getting any trouble. But foreigners in India are not so luckily. When their bodies
don’t seem accept the water at all, ever the water has been boiled long enough to kill the germs
in it. Very often, they have loose bowels, and some even get a fever.

Umm I think this is called immunity... It's not about constitution as you are referring to
constitution, it's about the fact that this is what they drank from the time they were a child and
have build up very natural immunities towards it.



Quote:

I don’t think you understand the conditions between most China’s rural towns and most US
cities. After having a baby, a woman usually is tired and weak. If she gets a shower at this time
at any common farmer’s house, where no air-condition is provided and also is in poor sanitary
conditions, she might get a cold or even infection very easily.

Okay, I'm following along .... um hum, conditions with differences, Chinese/US,
rural/cities...hmmm...woman, baby after tired/weak. Wait a minute where is there a difference? Ok
continuing no a/c poor farmer, or is that poor farmer no a/c poor sanitation= cold/infection
easily. Okay so let me ask then a lady just having a baby is always prone to infection and poor
sanitation could make it easier yes but a freaking cold! Come on man live in the 21st century! And
you must obviously be thinking winter. Okay one or two seasons out of the year where an A/C would
help but not with a cold! We don't get colds just because we are cold (despite what our ancestors
think).

I'm not saying that what you have said has no logic. I can understand this reasoning for the
poorer areas of China but in your explanation you have left out the cities! What about the
differences between Chinese Cities and US Cities????? They do not have the same conditions you
pointed out that exist in rural areas... Not to mention that in the countryside it is very likely
birth through a mid-wife versus in a hospital. Can you tell with all those factors why this is
still a necessary practice? And don't say constitutions are different... Everyone's constitutions
are different and I know many Chinese that have a lot better constitutions than many Westerner's.










gougou -



Quote:

but in your explanation you have left out the cities!

So is the practice of 坐月子 followed in the same way in cities as in rural parts of the
country?



Quote:

Not to mention that in the countryside it is very likely birth through a mid-wife versus in a
hospital.

If I recall correctly, 82% of Chinese babies are delivered in hospitals.



==========
Personally, I think it is very important to take a long rest. And to use A LOT of disposable
products.

Full disclosure: Currently working for a manufacturer of adult diapers.










muyongshi -

Thanks gougou I feel I can trust you so much more now with that disclosure...

As far as I have been told by my Chinese friends the practice is pretty standard everywhere and
not very many differences exist between rural and city.

And that number is pretty decent so it just furthers my idea that this is now just something that
is done that does not really have a basis as no one has been able to yet explain to me WHY it is
done.










studentyoung -



Quote:

Umm I think this is called immunity... It's not about constitution as you are referring to
constitution, it's about the fact that this is what they drank from the time they were a child and
have build up very natural immunities towards it.

Now you might understand how the environment works on local people’s body.



Quote:

Umm I think this is called immunity... It's not about constitution as you are referring to
constitution, it's about the fact that this is what they drank from the time they were a child and
have build up very natural immunities towards it.

I really don’t know how to describe it to you. In traditional Chinese medicine, one’s
constitutions are described as虚, 实, 寒, 热, 湿, 躁, etc. Do you have any friend knows
traditional Chinese medicine? I still wonder how to explain academic terms like 阴虚火旺,
寒体,化湿解表 in TCM to you. I think the meaning of the word 体质 in TCM is not identical
with its English counterpart “constitution”.



Quote:

What about the differences between Chinese Cities and US Cities????? They do not have the same
conditions you pointed out that exist in rural areas... They do not have the same conditions you
pointed out that exist in rural areas... Not to mention that in the countryside it is very likely
birth through a mid-wife versus in a hospital. Can you tell with all those factors why this is
still a necessary practice? And don't say constitutions are different... Everyone's constitutions
are different and I know many Chinese that have a lot better constitutions than many Westerner's.

I think the word “constitution”is associated with health. How can I make it clear to you that
different people have different 体质? OK, I show you another example. Even in the same health
condition, and wounded in the same level, scars appear on black, yellow people much more possibly
than on white people. That’s because of the effect of color element, color people are usually
cicatricail diathesis瘢痕体质. Do you have some idea on why Chinese women need to 坐月子?

Thanks!












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