PAPA

Mum reverses car into toddler
May 29, 2009 (Friday)

Isabel Cheong died on the spot after suffering head injuries when her 29-year-old mother reversed the car.

She did not notice that her child was behind the car yesterday at Jalan 25/70A, acting city traffic police chief Deputy Supt Ng Fook Long said.

“The mother only realised she had run over her child after hearing her cries. She immediately got down to check what had happened.

“Passers-by tried to help pull the child out, but by the time she was dislodged from under the car, she had died,” he said.

The body was sent to Kuala Lumpur Hospital for a post-mortem.

Call 15999 to report child abuse
May 28, 2009 (Thursday)

One abortion for every five pregnancies, says survey
May 26, 2009 (Tuesday)

There is one abortion for every five pregnancies in the country, according to a random survey by several private clinics.

Sin Chew Daily quoted the Reproductive Rights Advocacy Alliance Malaysia chairman Dr Choong Sim Poey as saying that although the abortion rate in Malaysia was not higher than that in the Western countries, it was on par with the figure in developing countries.

“The highest number of abortions among Asean countries is in Vietnam, where there is one abortion for every three pregnancies.

“This is because their awareness on contraception is not very high,” he said.

Dr Choong said he was disappointed that abortion was not available to women in public hospitals.

“This will cause many women to delay undergoing abortion and encourage the proliferation of such services in the black market.

“Due to this reason, many private hospitals are charging exorbitant fees to perform abortions.

“Some private hospitals are charging RM2,000 to RM3,000 while some are asking for RM200 to RM300,” he said, adding that according to statistics by the police, there were at least 100 abandoned babies a year.

Halle Hiking
May 26, 2009 (Tuesday)

Credit: Gold Mojo/GSI

Halle Berry, showing off her new pixie cut, and boyfriend Gabriel Aubrey treat daughter Nahla, 14 months, to some outdoors fun at the Topanga Days Memorial Day Fair in Topanga Canyon, Malibu, on Sunday. Source

Yawning Aleesya
May 24, 2009 (Sunday)

8-month tot has prostate cancer
May 22, 2009 (Friday)

LITTLE Ruddi Waterworth Jones is only eight months old-but he's battling a disease that strikes elderly men.

For the plucky tot is the youngest person EVER in the UK to suffer from prostate cancer.

And Ruddi's amazing fight for life has also seen him beat LIVER FAILURE as his devastated parents Alison and Craig pray for his recovery. "He is trying so hard to get through this," said heartbroken Alison, 37. "And throughout it all he's still been a happy, smiling baby."

She and Craig, 28, were stunned when Ruddi-born perfectly healthy last August- was diagnosed last month with a disease that usually affects the over sixties. "I just couldn't imagine him having cancer at seven months-let alone a tumour like this," said Alison who lost two babies during previous pregnancies.

"Ruddi was such a wanted baby. Craig and I were thrilled when he was born. So to be told he had a highly aggressive tumour on his prostate at such a young age was a nightmare.

"The doctors have never seen it in a baby so young before. We just couldn't take it in." Ruddi started chemotherapy immediately to try to shrink the tumour-but then he suffered liver failure.

"It was touch and go whether he would even survive," says Alison. "We really thought we were going to lose him, but he managed to pull through."

Now courageous Ruddi faces six more months of chemotherapy before undergoing an operation to remove the tumour. He has already had to have two blood transfusions. But his cheeky grin shines through.

"The doctors have told us there is more than a 60 per cent chance of him surviving-we are so proud of him," says Alison.

A Prostate Cancer Support Federation spokesman told us: "We have come across this type of prostate tumour in a six year old boy before, but never anyone as young as this.'

THE family, of Huddersfield, West Yorks, have launched a fund for the hospital and cancer charities. To donate contact m_binns@sky.com Source

Ten ways to increase chances of conception
May 19, 2009 (Tuesday)

Getting pregnant in today’s world can be tougher than ever. Stressful lifestyle factors are making it more difficult to conceive than at any point in history. A 2007 Newsweek article calls infertility a “common problem, besetting an estimated six million American couples.” One study of over 18,000 women found “one in six women had trouble getting pregnant.”

A few common daily habits may work against a healthy quick conception. To speed up conception and increased chances of having a healthy baby, there are a handful of lifestyle factors to be considered before taking a trip to the fertility doctor.

Listed here are ten facts that can be used to reduce the effects of stress, build a healthier body, and conceive quickly and naturally.

1: Stop Worrying
2: Avoid Artificial Sweeteners
3: Avoid Caffeine
4: Avoid Pesticides
5: Avoid Soy
6: Remove Household Toxins
7: Unprocessed Foods for Her
8: Unprocessed Foods for Him
9: Get Regular Sleep and Sunshine
10: Daily Movement

Wanted to know more in details? Click here for further reading.

Protecting children from harmful toys
May 18, 2009 (Monday)

Regulations to ensure safety standards for toys will be introduced soon.

Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the formulation of a draft for the regulations – Consumer Protection (Safety Standard For Toys) Regulations 2009 – was expected to be completed by the end of the year.

He said that once the guidelines are approved, they would be carried out six months later.

“Such guidelines are important since there are many toys in the market which contain chemicals that are a danger to children,” he told reporters after a dialogue with Kampung Charuk Puting residents here yesterday.

Ismail Sabri said that once the regulations were implemented, every product produced locally or imported would go through an inspection process, similar to a Sirim quality inspection, to determine its safety before it is approved for sale.

“Action will be taken against those who sell such toys without the approval label,” he said.

He also said his ministry was in the final stages of finalising amendments to the Fair Trade and Practices Act and Consumers Protection Act before tabling them in Parliament by the end of the year. Source

World Hypertension Day
May 17, 2009 (Sunday)

Yeah, today is World Hypertension Day and I one of those young 'high society' lifestyle group that is having this kind of medical condition. Recent study suggests for the first time that cytomegalovirus (CMV), a common viral infection is a cause of high blood pressure.

Pickup story from Science Daily. A new study suggests for the first time that cytomegalovirus (CMV), a common viral infection affecting between 60 and 99 percent of adults worldwide, is a cause of high blood pressure, a leading risk factor for heart disease, stroke and kidney disease. Led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and published in the May 15, 2009 issue of PLoS Pathogens, the findings further demonstrate that, when coupled with other risk factors for heart disease, the virus can lead to the development of atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries.

"CMV infects humans all over the world," explains co-senior author Clyde Crumpacker, MD, an investigator in the Division of Infectious Diseases at BIDMC and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. "This new discovery may eventually provide doctors with a whole new approach to treating hypertension, with anti-viral therapies or vaccines becoming part of the prescription."

A member of the herpes virus family, CMV affects all age groups and is the source of congenital infection, mononucleosis, and severe infection in transplant patients. By the age of 40, most adults will have contracted the virus, though many will never exhibit symptoms. Once it has entered the body, CMV is usually there to stay, remaining latent until the immune system is compromised, when it then reemerges.

Previous epidemiological studies had determined that the CMV virus was linked to restenosis in cardiac transplant patients, a situation in which the heart's arteries "reblock." The virus had also been linked to the development of atherosclerosis, the hardening of the heart's arteries. But, in both cases, the mechanism behind these developments remained a mystery. This new study brought together a team of researchers from a variety of disciplines – infectious diseases, cardiology, allergy and pathology – to look more closely at the issue.

"By combining the insights of investigators from different medical disciplines, we were able to measure effects of a viral infection that may have been previously overlooked," explains Crumpacker.

In the first portion of the study, the scientists examined four groups of laboratory mice. Two groups of animals were fed a standard diet and two groups were fed a high cholesterol diet. After a period of four weeks, one standard diet mouse group and one high-cholesterol diet mouse group were infected with the CMV virus.

Six weeks later, the animals' blood pressures were measured by the cardiology team using a small catheter inserted in the mouse carotid artery. Among the mice fed a standard diet, the CMV-infected mice had increased blood pressure compared with the uninfected group. But even more dramatically, 30 percent of the CMV-infected mice that were fed a high-cholesterol diet not only exhibited increased blood pressure, but also showed signs of having developed atherosclerosis.

"This strongly suggests that the CMV infection and the high-cholesterol diet might be working together to cause atherosclerosis," says Crumpacker. In order to find out how and why this was occurring, the investigators went on to conduct a series of cell culture experiments.

Their first analysis demonstrated that CMV stimulated production of three different inflammatory cytokines – IL6, TNF, and MCP1 – in the infected mice, an indication that the virus was causing inflammation to vascular cells and other tissues.

A second analysis found that infection of a mouse kidney cell line with murine CMV led to an increase in expression of the renin enzyme, which has been known to activate the renin-angiotensin system and lead to high blood pressure. Clinical isolates of human CMV in cultured blood vessel cells also produced increased renin expression.

"Viruses have the ability to turn on human genes and, in this case, the CMV virus is enhancing expression of renin, an enzyme directly involved in causing high blood pressure," says Crumpacker. When the scientists inactivated the virus through the use of ultraviolet light, renin expression did not increase, suggesting that actively replicating virus was causing the increase in renin.

In their final experiments, the researchers demonstrated that the protein angiotensin 11 was also increased in response to infection with CMV. "Increased expression of both renin and angiotensin 11 are important factors in hypertension in humans," says Crumpacker. "What our study seems to indicate is that a persistent viral infection in the vessels' endothelial cells is leading to increased expression of inflammatory cytokines, renin and angiotensin 11, which are leading to increased blood pressure."

According to recent figures from the American Heart Association, one in three U.S. adults has high blood pressure, and because there are no known symptoms, nearly one-third of these individuals are unaware of their condition. Often dubbed "the silent killer," uncontrolled high blood pressure can lead to stroke, heart attack, heart failure or kidney failure, notes Crumpacker.

"We found that CMV infection alone led to an increase in high blood pressure, and when combined with a high-cholesterol diet, the infection actually induced atherosclerosis in a mouse aorta," says Crumpacker. "This suggests that further research needs to be directed at viral causes of vascular injury. Some cases of hypertension might be treated or prevented by antiviral therapy or a vaccine against CMV."

Baby born in ambulance made St John life member
May 15, 2009 (Friday)

Pickup story from The Star. A baby girl born in an ambulance on the way to the Penang Hospital has been made a life member of the Penang St John Ambulance.

Puteri Syifa Balqis Ismail was delivered on Monday by Muhammad Jusri Jamaluddin, 23, who had joined the Emergency Medical Assistance Service (EMAS) of St John Ambulance just four months ago.

Farizal Abdullah, 32 said she did not expect her baby to be born so soon as the due date was May 20.

She had earlier complained of abdominal pains at about 5am and asked her husband Ismail Said, 39, to send her to the hospital.

“As there was a very bad traffic jam at the time in Jalan Tengah, we decided to go to the Bayan Baru Community Clinic. Unfortunately, the clinic was not open,” the mother of five said, adding that her husband then sought help from Muhammad Jusri who was on duty at the EMAS base at the clinic.

Muhammad Jusri, who was trained to deliver babies last month, recalled: “Upon arriving at the hospital, the mother told me that the baby was coming out soon and we might not have time to admit her.

“When I saw the baby’s head coming out, I panicked and started feeling nervous but I kept my cool as my main concern was to deliver the baby safely,” he said, adding that he tried to recall the steps he learnt during last month’s course.

“We had only only practised on a dummy. Luckily the steps were still fresh in my mind and I delivered the baby without any complications,” he said.

Farizal said her eldest son was also a member of St John’s Ambulance. She hoped he and Puteri Syifa Balqis would grow up to be as dedicated as Muhammad Jusri.

Puteri Syifa Balqis is the second baby to be delivered in an ambulance since EMAS was set up about four years ago.

The first baby, a boy, was delivered by a Penang St John Ambulance member in 2007.

Vietnam's upmarket condoms
May 14, 2009 (Thursday)

IN VIETNAM'S fast-growing commercial capital Ho Chi Minh City, most people buy cheap condoms from no-frills roadside kiosks, at the drug store or in supermarkets.

But two brothers have opened an upmarket condom boutique here, saying customers want more choice and more sophisticated options - even in a country known for being socially conservative, where sex education is taboo.

'Doing this business is good for the public and the society,' says Nguyen Khanh Phong, 28. 'We went to the authorities and asked for permission and they allowed us,' adds his 21-year-old brother Nguyen Hoang Long. 'Now things come easier,' he adds, noting that the business - open for more than two months now - is thriving.

The shop, called Volcano, makes no attempt to hide what it's selling. Condom boxes are stuck to the glass doors of the tiny store, the walls are painted pink and shelves are stacked with condoms from across Asia.

'We spent a lot of money,' Phong says. 'It looks friendly.' The Fuji Shock brand from Japan is currently popular amongst Volcano's customers, even though it costs about five times as much as the 5,000-dong (41 Singapore cents) box of three locally made VIP condoms.

Another Japanese condom on display has a light that illuminates when the man ejaculates. 'Our customers really like the design of the Japanese condoms,' Long adds.

High-tech Japanese condoms are not for sale at Tai Sanh's condom booth, one of many spread out in the ethnic Chinese quarter of the southern city, formerly known as Saigon.

Cigarette in hand, Sanh, 60, sits on a low red stool behind his display case filled with boxes of VIP condoms. Customers looking for something more exotic may opt for the X-Men. At 10,000 dong each, the condom has round rubber studs.

Sanh says roadside vendors make buying condoms much easier, especially for Ho Chi Minh City's legion of motorcycle riders who can simply pull up, make their purchase and quickly be on their way.

'We sell a lot,' Sanh says, adding that he stays out of trouble with the authorities by not selling pornographic DVDs, sex toys or fake anti-impotency drugs, which are banned. Source

Three kindies closed over HFM
May 14, 2009 (Thursday)

Health Ministry Disease Contol director Datuk Dr Hasan Abdul Rahman said the kindergartens, which volunteered to temporarily close their premises. were in Taman Desa (three cases detected), Bandar Manjalara (three cases) and Bangsar (five cases).

He said the kindergartens had done their part by identifying students with symptoms and informing the ministry.

“The disease is endemic here and related to personal hygiene,” he added.

If children showed related symptoms, parents are advised to seek medical attention, he said. The affected children should avoid going to public places and schools until the blisters on their skin healed, which would take about a week, he added.

The SK Sri Mega in Taman Overseas Union had one suspected case, according to its headmistress Pok Mee Chin. Pok said she was informed the child was absent from school.

On teachers advising students to wear masks and gloves, she said students did not have to do that. “We advise them to wash their hands,” she said. Source

Lil' Spidey for Tobey
May 12, 2009 (Tuesday)

Spider-Man star Tobey Maguire and his wife, Jennifer Meyer, welcomed their second child last Friday, the actor's rep tells PEOPLE.

"I can confirm the Maguires had a baby boy today, and the family is healthy and happy," says rep Kelly Bush.

Maguire, 33, and Meyer, 31, are also parents to daughter Ruby, 2 1/2. The couple met in 2003 and married in 2007.

Busy mum Nurul Izzah Anwar insists on breast-feeding her daughter
May 10, 2009 (Sunday)

Busy mum Nurul Izzah Anwar insists on breast-feeding her daughter Raja Nur Safiyah and on days when the Parliament sits, the baby joins her there to be nursed.

Raja Nur Safiyah was only a few months old when Nurul Izzah, 29, won the Lembah Pantai parliamentary seat in the March 8 general election.

Fortunately for the new Member of Parliament (MP), she can breast-feed in privacy using her mother’s former room at the Parliament office tower.

A partition had been created for Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, then the Opposition Leader, to rest and pray.

When her father Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim took over from Dr Wan Azizah, Nurul Izzah continued to breast-feed behind the partition.

“I prefer to breast-feed my daughter until she turns two,” said Nurul Izzah.

Chief administrator of Parliament building Datuk Kamaruddin Baria, when asked about a nursing room, said the administration would have to create space if Nurul Izzah requested for it.

Now seven months into her second pregnancy, Nurul Izzah will probably be the first woman to deliver a baby as a serving MP - and she insists on breast-feeding her second child as well.

Asked how she would cope with a newborn, a toddler and her duties as an MP, Nurul Izzah, who is still busy organising functions and activities in her constituency said: “I have no answer for that. It is not an easy task for any other working mother for that matter.”

Nurul Izzah’s husband Raja Ahamad Shahrir is working overseas and only comes home during weekends.

She said motherhood has made her more sensitive to the plight of single mothers and the struggles of women.

“It is tough, tiring but challenging,” she said. Source

Happy Mother's Day!

Staying Upright During Childbirth Found Helpful
May 07, 2009 (Thursday)

Recently, I have had babies on the brain. I think this might have something to do with the fact that I spent a large part of the weekend with a very good friend who is heavily pregnant with her first child.

We spent a little time talking about her plans for the birth. The aim is to give birth at home, and my friend also remarked that her desire is to stay as upright as possible during labor. While it is customary in the U.K. for women to go through labor lying down, my friend believes that standing and squatting are far more natural and appropriate positions during the birthing process.

This conversation was still fresh in my mind when earlier this week I came across a report on a review of maternal position during labor. One of the outcomes assessed was the length of the first two stages of labor. Stage one is said to start when the cervix is 3 centimeters dilated, and ends once it is fully dilated. Stage two starts at this point and ends with the birth of the baby. Typically, the first stage of labor lasts about eight hours in women giving birth to their first child, but lasts about half this length in subsequent labors.

The review in question was conducted by scientists from the Cochrane collaboration (an international group of scientists specializing in systematic reviews of health-related interventions) and was published recently. [1]

The review of 21 studies found that being upright during labor appeared to reduce the duration of the first stage of labor by about an hour. Maternal position did not seem to affect the length of the second stage of labor. Neither did it appear to influence the mode of delivery or other outcomes related to the well-being of the mother or her baby. However, in addition to appearing to reduce the length of the first stage of labor, being upright was also associated with a 17 percent reduced risk of having epidural analgesia.

The authors of the review concluded: “There is evidence that walking and upright positions in the first stage of labor reduce the length of labor and do not seem to be associated with increased intervention or negative effects on mothers’ and babies’ well-being. Women should be encouraged to take up whatever position they find most comfortable in the first stage of labor.”

By Dr. John Briffa - Source

Reference:

1. Lawrence A, Lewis L, Hofmeyr GJ, Dowswell T, Styles C. Maternal positions and mobility during first stage labor. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2009, Issue 2

Dr. John Briffa is a London-based physician and health writer with an interest in nutrition and natural medicine

Mandatory CE
May 06, 2009 (Wednesday)

Here it goes again. Firstly, Fomena that holds the monopoly for the mandatory monitoring and supervision of medical examinations of all foreign workers in the country (concession only end in 2012) and now another quick way to squeeze more $$$ from the employers by geting them to pay for the mandatory induction course that will cost RM120 per person. Multiplication that with approx 300,000 maids and what you got is a cool RM36 million annually. That's just the domestic helper sector, how about foreign worker from other sectors? Earlier idea of foreign worker levy hike doesn't sound logic in these trying times but hey, now you're actually paying for a service and certainly there is a value there, right?

Reported by The Star. Foreign workers, including domestic maids, from 10 countries are now required to undergo a mandatory induction course and obtain the Certificate of Eligibility (CE) before applying for visas to work in Malaysia.

The new ruling issued by the Human Resources Ministry and Immigration Department has been implemented from May 1.

Malaysian Association of Foreign Maid Agencies president Datuk Raja Zulkepley Dahalan, who issued a statement on the ruling, said that it would only encourage domestic maids to enter the country illegally.

He also said that the new ruling would increase the cost of hiring maids and that would eventually be borne by employers and agencies.

“Foreign maids will also incur additional financial burden,” he said.

Citing an example, Raja Zulkepley said employers hiring Indonesian maids would have to pay RM120 to enable a maid to undergo the induction course to acquire the CE.

“This cost does not include incidental expenses that may be borne by the agencies in both countries,” he said.

Domestic maids should be exempted from attending the course as the nature of their work was “informal” and they are not exposed to serious problems like other workers in the “formal” sector.

Raja Zulkepley said those from Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines and Sri Lanka would face difficulty in obtaining CEs as these countries do not have training centres for domestic maids.

The new ruling, he said, might cause employers to face problems getting maids from agencies within the next one to three months, as the agents were not ready to fulfil the new requirement.

Maid caught abusing baby
May 05, 2009 (Tuesday)

Pickup story from Straits Times Singapore. An Indonesian maid who was caught ill-treating her employer's baby son by closed-circuit television was jailed for nine months on Tuesday.

Etik, 25, pleaded guilty to pushing the 2 1/2-month-old in the groin, slapping his leg and groin, pulling his hands, pushing his head, shaking the sarong vigorously and kicking him on the buttock area at the employer's Paya Lebar house on Jan 25 last year.

The baby's father called the police on Jan 26 and reported that his maid had abused his son.

Etik had been employed since November 2007 to take care of the infant and do household chores.

Further investigation showed that on Jan 25 when the employer and his wife were viewing the CCTV recording, they saw Etik behaving roughly towards the victim. Etik was seen pushing the victim's groin and slapping his leg and groin area while he was lying and crying on the sofa.

She then pulled the baby towards her and put him in the sarong cradle. There she kicked on the sarong and used her leg to swing on the cradle.

She was seen placing her hand on the victim as if she was tapping or pushing the victim's head.

Sometime later, she was seen kicking the victim's buttock once and swinging the cradle vigorously.

The court heard that all her actions were likely to have caused unnecessary physical pain to the victim, who is now one.

She could have been fined up to $4,000 or jailed for up to four years or to both.

Jessica Alba Deals with Daughter's Teething
May 04, 2009 (Monday)

Photo by: CWNY / Fame

Daughter Honor Marie may only be 11 months old, but her mother, Jessica Alba, is noticing distinct changes in appearance.

"She's getting new teeth every day," Alba, 28, told PEOPLE at the EIF/Revlon Run/Walk for Women. And though her daughter – who "doesn't walk, but she's crawling around and pulling herself up" – is always "covered in lots of drool," Alba admits, "she's the best thing in the world!"

As for life with Honor, whose father is Alba's husband, producer Cash Warren, "Every day is totally different," says the proud mom. "The love is deeper every day. It's unreal, and you just want to protect them from everything."

But she may not be the center of attention for long. "I'm hoping to definitely have more kids," Alba says. "Whatever happens, I'm not setting a certain number. I think in life you're always surprised and a few more kids are certainly in my future."

For now, the focus is on throwing the perfect first birthday party for Honor on June 7. "I have to work right before her birthday," Alba says. "I was thinking about having it after her birthday – just a little brunch with her friends from music class." Source

Postnatal & Confinement/'Cho Yuet'
May 03, 2009 (Sunday)

I came across this article 'Doing the month': Ancient tradition meets modern motherhood by Anne Williams and I thought I should share this with you all:-

Zuo Yuezi

The Chinese tradition of Zuo Yuezi (Cho Yuet in Cantonese) dictates that for 40 days from the birth of their children, mothers must stay inside and avoid bathing, washing their hair or brushing their teeth. They must cover their heads to prevent chills, keep the windows closed, and remain in bed for as long as possible.

Zuo Yuezi – which loosely translates into doing the month – also requires mothers to avoid all forms of stress, including crying, shouting and talking for an entire cycle of the moon.

While ‘doing the month,’ mothers can’t eat ‘cold’ foods such as cool drinks, ice cream, fruits or vegetables. Instead, they must load up on ‘hot’ foods like boiled eggs and chicken and fish soup. Along with the tradition is a famous Chinese postpartum ‘decoction’ known as Shenghua Tang – an herbal cleansing and purifying remedy.

Origins in Chinese Medicine
Medical writings about Zuo Yuezi can be traced to the Qing Dynasty (1644 – 1911). According to Yi-Li Wu, associate professor of history at Albion College in Michigan, early Chinese medical writings described conditions such as eclampsia, maternal tetanus and other postpartum diseases that are still deadly today if left untreated. Essentially, ‘doing the month’ was a primitive form of quarantine to prevent postpartum complications.

If you analyze Zuo Yuezi in an early medical context, many of the practices made sense. The avoidance of bathing and teeth-brushing was a way to prevent water-borne illness; staying indoors helped women and babies avoid exposure to communicable diseases, and covering the head protected new mothers from catching a ‘chill.’

Food-wise, the proteins and iron found in eggs, meat and fish provided mothers with strength and muscle repair. Rest and heavy consumption of hot soup helped prevent dehydration, kept moms warm and was believed to promote the production of breast milk. Most importantly, the legendary herbal decoction of Shenghua Tang was thought to purify the female body and help slow vaginal bleeding.

The Power of Superstition
‘Doing the month’ wasn’t only a product of Chinese medicine. Without scientific explanations for the phenomena of the times, many ancient cultures developed devout beliefs in the supernatural.

For example, some of the fear of leaving home in the first month after birth had to do with evil spirits seeking to steal babies. More common was the belief that spirits and pregnant women were out to steal breast milk. Out of these superstitions came the avoidance of expectant mothers and strangers during Zuo Yuezi.

Baby snatchers were the reason that the Chinese did not give first-born children their official names until ‘doing the month’ was over. Instead, a newborn was given a little name or nickname to trick the evil spirits. Many parents continued to use the nickname throughout their children’s lives.

Zuo Yuezi Today
Whether or not you believe in Chinese medicine or superstitions surrounding ‘doing the month,’ there is no doubt that belief plays a significant role in one’s feeling of health and well-being.

That’s why maternity hospitals such as BC Women’s Hospital in Vancouver try to accommodate different cultural beliefs. Pam O’Sullivan is the director of BC Women’s Birthing Program. “We are accustomed to serving a population that is of approximately 30 percent non-Caucasian origin. We try to listen to everyone’s requests and accommodate them as best we can, as long as there are no safety issues.”

O’Sullivan offers a few examples. “We have a policy of keeping moms and babies together as much as possible, regardless of culture. As well, we will push beds to the far end of the rooms to accommodate extended families, and supply boiled water to Asian mothers who like to drink it to avoid stress. Although hygiene is very important, we will allow sponge bathing for women who traditionally avoid bathing and showering around births.”

Is It All Worth It?
How do today’s Chinese moms feel about ‘doing the month’?

The answer is that while respect for the practice remains high, today’s mothers tend to reject certain rules of confinement – namely the month-long ritual of not bathing or leaving their homes.

Sisters Aimee Jang and Nina Soo, both from the Lower Mainland, share amusing stories about ‘doing the month.’ “My mother still believes very strongly in the tradition,” says Aimee. “But these days it’s not practical to stay inside for an entire month, so I cheated a little.” Nina agrees. “We sometimes roll our eyes, but at the same time we respect how much it means to our parents.”

Aimee tells a funny tale about sneaking out for dim sum. “My mother came with me to the restaurant, and every time someone walked up to us she would announce how disappointed she was that I left the house. But she couldn’t resist a good dim sum, so there she was, eating right next to me.”

Both sisters recount their mother’s affectionate scolding: “Some day you’re going to get sick, and you’ll wish you listened.” But despite their reluctance to follow the more unsavoury aspects of confinement, Aimee and Nina speak fondly of their experiences. “Doing the month is more than just tradition. When you think about it, it’s what bonds us to our mothers and grandmothers.”

Related links to postnatal & confinement services:
SHL Confinement Cares S/B
SN confinement Ladies Service
MAC Babycare