Postpartum Then and Now

The postpartum period is a time where women are dealing with dual burden of recovery from childbirth and taking on multiple new roles. While great strides in antepartum and intrapartum care have been achieved worldwide; there has been a comparative lack of attention to the post-partum period. Which is counter-intuitive since a woman must spend her lifetime in this period as compared to the short duration of pregnancy and delivery.

However, this has not always been the case. Historically, our Indian culture has respected and cared for postpartum mothers far better than what we do today despite advances in modern medicine. They had specific traditional practices to make sure there is effective recovery from childbirth and preservation of long-term health.

Birth Institute student from Rochester, Maya D’Costa (it needed the Western Culture to recognize this !!!), gives us insight into the traditional ways women are supported during the postpartum period in India. Her paper states that in India, across cultures, the postpartum period was given much emphasis. After childbirth, women stay at home for approximately 6 weeks/40 days (a period of 'confinement ‘) This promotes recovery of mother, helps in establishing bonding and promoting breastfeeding.