Do/Did women in china really give birth in the paddy fields then return to work? What was the death rate?

Question

I'm about to give birth and am sick of people telling me about these women in china who supposedly give birth while working in the paddy fields, hand the newborn over to an older family member then carry on picking/planting rice. I'm convinced its a myth or if not then the mortality rate amongst the women and new born babies must have been pretty high. Is there any documentation out there about this?

Answer 1

They don't do that today maybe and I'm not sure about that even but yes ,,,,, this was a common practice back when ,,,,,if they were in the rice fields and their water broke then she ,,, along with one or two other women ,,,,, would move to dry ground and the women would assist her in the birth ,,,, If they were about to deliver then they didn't have the time to go all the way back to their dwelling let alone make it to a hospital ,,,,, For women that are carrying a child it is a part of the every day procedure ,,,,,,, The mortality rate for new born's was surprisingly low ,,,,,, If there were no complications during the birth then yes she would put the infant in a cloth sling and secure it to her back and return to the rice paddy because getting the work done was very important too,,,,, There are still primitive cultures today where the women will take time out to give birth but go right back to what they were doing ,,,,When the water broke and they felt the child comming they would simply get into a squawtting position and another woman would catch or take hold of the baby as it emerged ,,,, While birth was a special event,,,,the actual procedure wasn't that big of a deal ,,,,, The pregnant woman would leave the village to forage with the other women and sometimes return with a baby slung on her back ,,,,, and the child's birth was celebrated at the end of the days work ,,,Women in these primitive cultures are pretty healthy and fit ,,,, Which is an important factor for any reason but also for birth too ,,,,,,Some times documentaries are shown on the National Geographic Channel that covers this subject ,,,, Women today in the Western cultures have it pretty good ,,,, compared to women in other parts of the world ,,,,,, Yoda said this

Answer 2

This has been answered, but I have to address the "Chinese women got 40 days rest" answer. There was a *huge* difference between peasants and mandarin women. Peasant women did indeed give birth in the fields and continue working - Pearl Buck was a longtime China resident and saw what she wrote in her books.

However, it is true for cultured, rich Chinese women they were given a rest afterwards. Actually I had heard 100 days, but I am not sure how much the people I have heard this from remember, so I can't say 40 days is incorrect, but it is only for a portion of the population.

Answer 3

THey didnt return to work right away, but in older cultures women were so healthy and active that they didnt need a lot of time to recover.

Naturally they would have to finish with the after birth, and nurse the baby, so they didnt just continue with their work. But the next day or so they were back out at light work loads.

All through ancient history you hear of this. The egyptians complained of the hebrew women who gave birth so quickly in the fields that no midwife could get there.

A womans body is actually very well suited for labor and functioning after. The healthier you are, the quicker and more effcient labor is, and the shorter the time needed to recover.

My grandmother gave birth to four babies in less than an hour, and was back doing light farm work the next day. We're lucky we get to lay around for three days in a hospital and have people pamper us :)

Answer 4

Chinese Women Giving Birth

Answer 5

No. It's an urban myth. In fact, in cultures like the Chinese there is a long tradition of allowing new mothers up to 40 days rest after the birth.

Answer 6

the parable persists, even among the chinese language intelligentsia, that US citizenship is a few thing powerful. uncertain why via fact that China is kicking our butt top now. yet those mom and father attempt to maintain all their ideas open. remember, they arrive from a rustic devoid of social protection or medicare. the only factor status between their older selves and a can of cat food is how properly their one toddler does. so as that they possibly view it as an investment interior the destiny to grant their youngster US citizenship (that's genuinely ordinary via fact that China would not settle for twin citizenship. they're quite leaping off a Porsche with an entire tank of gas to get onto an Edsel it is broken down with the help of the area of the line).

Answer 7

I'm about to give birth too and what gets me through the fear is that the female body is DESIGNED to give birth without drugs, epidurals, drips, caesareans forceps blah de blah.

Many problems in labour are actually caused by the medical procedures which are supposed to be "safer" than nature. Epidurals prolong labour needing assisted deliveries and can cause fever/drop in blood pressure. Narcotics painkillers affect the baby's breathing. Simply laying on your back in a bed whilst in labour can make your labour harder and more painful as your pelvis does not have room to open up and not moving around makes it harder to deal with the pain - hence the need for painkillers which can make the birth longer and more problematic. High tech hospital deliveries stress the mother out which makes the pain harder to bear - hence more drugs - hence more interventions.

Women gave birth for centuries without medical intervention. Many of the deaths were due to things like postpartum haemorrage or infection as hygiene was poorer back then and peopel had no understanding of germs and disease.

Today we have medical intervention for genuine cases of problems in labour, but many of the interventions performed today are unneccessary and could be avoided by letting the woman's body labour in away that is natural for her.

Go ahead and give birth lying on a hospital bed, pumped to the eyeballs with drugs with a drip in your arm and a sick bowl in your hand if you like. I'm looking forward to my lovely waterbirth and being able to listen to my body and do it the way my body tells me to, with the support of my midwife.

Answer 8

The death rate was 1 baby to every 50 lbs of rice.

Answer 9

1

Answer 10

yes it true and when the baby is 1 month old he goes to work as well don't worry its just like shelling peas