By Momo Chang 
Back-to-Roots Post-Birth Rituals: Not showering, eating only hot foods and barring visitors for a month is a way Asian American moms are holding on to sacred traditions.
Second and third generation Asian American moms are embracing post-birth traditions that are common in Asian cultures, from Chinese to Mien to Korean. Some are even following the traditions more than in previous generations. These post-birth "sit-ins" last usually a month and is, in some ways, opposite of how new moms are seen in mainstream U.S. culture. In the U.S., it is common to have visitors right away and most advice focuses on taking care of the baby. In traditional Asian culture, the first month after giving birth is a sacred time for healing for a new mom, when pores are "extra open" -- thus no baths/showering, no cold food/water and no visitors nor going outside for at least a month. A special diet is, of course, in order.
Back in the motherland, a pregnant woman goes back to her mother's home to give birth and is taken care of by her mother, but what happens to some of these traditions in the U.S.? I will be interviewing moms based in the San Francisco/Bay Area and Los Angeles from a range of ethnic groups -- Vietnamese American, Mien American, Korean American and Filipino American -- who followed these rituals, some in modified form. I will explore the increasingly commodified forms of care, including "confinement hotels" in Los Angeles and the hiring of live-in caregivers, all cottage industries created for new moms who want to keep some of the traditions. I will also be exploring where these practices originate, and if there's medical validity to them, by speaking with Western and Eastern doctors. Points of conflict include opting out of doctors appointments the first month, staying indoors and not getting enough sunlight, all of which counter Western medical advice.
