美国可以从世界各地的文化中了解到出生后的时间

想象一下，有了孩子，马上接受按摩，泡在药浴里，在休息状态下度过一个月。

对许多新妈妈来说，这听起来像是一个梦，但对伊芙琳埃斯科瓦尔来说，这是她五月份分娩后的现实。埃斯科瓦尔认为自己是拉丁裔黑人和土著人，她观察了拉丁美洲的文化习俗"隔离",即产后40天的隔离期，新妈妈们专注于治愈和与婴儿的联系。

这位30岁的男子说，整整40天我一根手指都没动过。

这意味着她甚至不能从她在洛杉矶生下婴儿伊斯拉的三层联排别墅的楼梯上下来。在她康复期间，埃斯科瓦尔依靠她的丈夫、分娩服务和扩展的社区护理。休息和恢复的文化实践使她能够从怀孕到为人父母的无缝过渡。

埃斯科瓦尔说："这给了我一些准备，我需要站出来，对自己作为母亲的新角色充满信心，因为一旦我站出来，我就会说，'好的，我准备好了。

RELATED: 根据一项关于优化产后护理的研究，产后几周对新父母来说是一个关键时期，为长期健康和幸福奠定了基础。在美国，对分娩者的护理通常看起来像产后六周对产科医生或助产士的一次单独探视。

仅此而已。

相比之下，根据2007年的一项研究，世界各地的许多文化都遵循产后仪式，这种仪式允许新父母被"照顾"更长时间。

美国缺乏产后护理的结构体系，这鼓励了像埃斯科瓦尔这样的新父母转向文化实践，从怀孕过渡到为人父母。这可能并不总是在公园里散步（剧透：有些传统意味着即使在最热的月份也没有空调或短袖衬衫),但照顾一个生了孩子的人仍然很紧迫。

那么，这些文化习俗有哪些例子呢

tices, and what can we learn from them?

Evelynn Escobar gave birth to Isla in May 2021. Evelynn Escobar gave birth to Isla in May 2021. | Credit: Courtesy of Evelynn Escobar

Cultural Rituals That Take Care of New Parents

In China, it's called zuo yue zi or "sitting the month." The practice, which dates back over 2,000 years, is based on the belief that a new mother's path to recovery starts with rest and dietary and lifestyle restrictions. Because the Chinese government invests in the care of new families, the sitting month is now a multi-billion dollar market with all-inclusive postpartum hotels, according to Heng Ou, author of the 2016 book The First Forty Days: The Essential Art of Nourishing the New Mother.

Ou, who is Chinese American, practiced tenets of the sitting month after the birth of her first child in 2003. Traditions require a new mom to stay indoors, bundle up with warm clothes, and avoid cold food and drinks to restore the heat that escaped the body with the baby. Ou's aunt became her de facto confinement ambassador by moving in and filling her freezer with broths and food.

"It's a really beautiful time to hold the mom and nurture her and keep her warm so she could heal and replenish herself from the inside out," says Ou.

The mom of three only practiced sitting the month for her first child. Her subsequent postpartum experiences differed starkly. She returned to work—with a newborn strapped in a carrier—just days after birth. As a result, Ou said she felt disconnected from her body.

Inspired by her postpartum experiences, Ou founded MotherBees in 2010, a company that delivers bone broth and porridges to new moms. "If we take care of our mothers, we really take care of our society as a whole," she says.

• RELATED: Project Mental (Un)Load: We Need to Talk About the Unspoken Burdens of Parenthood

In Latin American and East Asian cultures, similar postpartum rituals exist to support new parents via rest, family and community support, and child care.

"Some cultures really fundamentally believe in this long-term detriment to one's health if they don't get the support during the transition of having a baby," says Cindy Lee-Dennis, Ph.D., professor at the University of Toronto's Lawrence Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing and the Faculty of Medicine.

In Korean culture, the 21-day postpartum care period is called Saam-chil-il.

Before the birth of her first son, Kelly Lee hired a professional Korean care specialist, to perform blood-circulating massages, take care of household chores, and cook her seaweed soup. For Lee, 29, of Bergen County, New Jersey, the extra support helped her recover from a difficult pregnancy.

"I don't think my body would have recovered as quickly," says Lee, who is Korean American.

Many say the postpartum rituals open a space for new parents to prioritize self-care. New moms put the baby's needs first, says Ou. What's left over for them? Scraps. These cultural practices center the birthing parent. After all, healthy babies start with healthy parents.

What We Can Learn from Postpartum Cultural Practices

Realistically, we can't expect to adopt all these cultural rituals into the American social fabric. Sorry, there are no plans to build postpartum hotels in a zip code near you yet. But maybe it's time to support new parents with resources already available.

"Instead of thinking that we need all these traditional rituals, says Dr. Lee-Dennis, "new moms have an embedded support network that we actually haven't capitalized on, and that's the partner."

A partner can look different for every family, but the goal is having another person who is able to provide support.

• RELATED: Doctors Want to Move the 6-Week Postpartum Checkup Earlier, to 3 Weeks

"Everyone always says it takes a village to raise a child, but it also takes a village to raise mothers," says Escobar.

During Escobar's cuarentena, her husband Franco Andrade, 31, was also able to take time off work to be there for his family. "Once the baby was born, for sure Evelynn did nothing and we did our absolute best for her to do nothing, and I knew that meant I had to do everything," says Andrade, who calls himself blessed for taking five months off work.

That's a luxury in a country that ranks last in UNICEF's report on family-friendly policies, including paid family leave.

It's not easy to practice these postpartum rituals, says Ou. There are groceries to buy, toddlers to hug, and jobs to keep. The extra support may not be financially accessible for many families, but the philosophy of cultural postpartum rituals is free—it's about slowing down.

"I think that it's got to happen in increments. It could be like a couple of minutes a day. Any moment that you could hang on to," says Ou. In those small moments, a new parent can make mindful transitions and connect with their mind and body. Those mindful minutes can add up to days and months and lead to healthier new parents.

As Ou puts is, "Don't we want to have a better society of moms and babies because isn't that all going to benefit us in the future?"