yue zi centers

Louisa Lim describes the Chinese post-partum tradition of the "Sitting Month" (a.k.a. "zuo yue zi" 做月子) and the lucrative industry that has sprung up around it on NPR:

Imagine not being allowed to go outside, have a shower or drink cold water for an entire month. It might sound like a kind of house arrest. But every year tens of millions of Chinese women submit to this willingly. This is the traditional Chinese practice of confinement during the month after childbirth, with some modern twists.

Many Westerners would undoubtedly find the practice of confining a new mother to bed for an entire month rather extreme, if not incredibly impractical - but indeed, this tradition remains firmly entrenched in the minds of many Chinese families.

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