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The postpartum period is the period consisting of the months or weeks immediately after childbirth or delivery.

Contents 1 Importance to health 2 'Sitting the Month' in East Asia 3 External links

The postpartum period is when the woman adjusts, both physically and psychologically, to the process of childbearing. It lasts for about six weeks or until the body has completed its adjustment and has returned to a nearly prepregnant state. Some health professionals refer to the postpartum period as the “fourth trimester”. Though the time span of the postpartum period does not necessarily cover three months, the term of “fourth trimester” suggests continuity and the importance of the first several months after birth for the mother.

The postpartum period is influenced by what preceded it. During pregnancy, the woman’s body gradually adjusted to physical changes, but now it is forced to respond quickly. The method of delivery and circumstances surrounding the delivery affects the speed with which the woman’s body readjusts during the postpartum period.

The postpartum period involves a great deal of adjustment and adaptation. The baby has to be cared for; the mother has to recover from childbirth; the mother has to learn how to take care of the baby; the mother needs to learn to feel good about herself as a mother; and the father needs to learn how to take care of his recovering wife. In spite of this, a period of "baby blues", a form of depression, is very common in new mothers.

In some cases, this adjustment is not made easily, and hormonal disturbances may lead to postnatal depression or even puerperal psychosis.

In some East Asian cultures, such as Chinese and Vietnamese, there is a traditional custom of postpartum confinement known in English as doing the month or sitting the month (Mandarin zuò yuèzi 坐月子). Confinement traditionally lasts 30 days, although regional variants may last 40, 60 or as many as 100 days. This tradition combines prescribed foods with a number of restrictions on activities considered to be harmful to the woman's recovering body. Family elders or (more recently) health professionals help the woman to recover after parturition.

Prohibited activities include washing one's hair, bathing, climbing steps, touching cold water, reading, and crying; sexual activity is prohibited, and the woman is not supposed be exposed to the wind or to sew. She is not supposed to consume anything cold, anything hard, any salt, any plain water, or anything containing alcohol or other foods considered to have strong medicinal properties (Chinese: 毒性 dúxìng).

Foods that are specifically prescribed for the period of confinement include:

• shenghua (生化) soup (made with angelica root, roast ginger, licorice root, and other strong-tasting herbs that are considered to have specific medicinal effects),
• chicken soup made with no seasonings other than sesame oil and rice wine
• the kidneys, heart, and liver of the pig.

It is widely believed in many East Asian societies that this custom helps heal injuries to the perineum, promote the contraction of the uterus, and promote lactation.

In countries like Pakistan and India, it is believed that during first 40 days of postpartum, a female is vulnerable to many diseases, black magic as well as Sitanic powers which eliminate the ability to conceive again and therefore must not be allowed to go out and meet other people. She is even forbidden to meet an unmarried girl as it is thought that the unmarried girl might get affected and might not get married. These are old thoughts and the newer and educated generations tend to refrain from these practices.^{[citation needed]}

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