“Of course, I ‘sat the month’ – all Chinese mothers do!” says Gao Pei, a kindergarten teacher turned stay-at-home mom, cradling her 7-month-old son on a recent outing in Beijing.
Ms. Gao extols the benefits of the ubiquitous Chinese tradition of “sitting the month,” or zuo yue zi, when new mothers rest, stay indoors, bundle up, and eat nourishing soups and other dishes for a month after giving birth. Relatives or other helpers care for the mother and baby, ensuring a smooth postpartum recovery.
First recorded more than 2,000 years ago in the Chinese “Book of Rites,” this ancient practice has endured for centuries even as it has evolved for modern mothers. Stringent old rules, taboos, and social roles have given way – including the requisite that new mothers eat a dozen eggs a day and don’t bathe – and now, women recuperate more flexibly at home or even in spalike postpartum centers.
Why We Wrote This
China’s ancient tradition requiring a month of special postpartum care is evolving into an upscale, spalike experience – and slowly migrating to the West.
China’s sitting-the-month tradition is also inspiring new approaches to postpartum care overseas.
“The Chinese tradition is wonderful,” says Diana Lary, professor emerita of history at the University of British Columbia, who has studied Chinese grandmothers’ involvement in mother-baby care. “So much has changed, yet somehow, zuo yue zi has survived.”
Upscale experience
Ma Qian, a mother of two and children’s clothing shopkeeper in Beijing, says families nowadays take “a more scientific approach” to sitting the month, allowing showers and other modern hygiene habits. And whereas traditionally, a woman’s mother-in-law took charge, strictly enforcing the rules, many women now rely instead on their own mothers.
“This avoids relationship issues,” Ms. Ma explains. “It’s a lot of work – changing diapers, wiping bottoms – and it’s smoother with her own mother.”
Or with hired help.
At one center in Beijing, Wang Can and her husband relax in a hotel-like suite, admiring their newborn daughter in her bassinet. A nanny offers around-the-clock infant care so the couple can sleep.
The center, which opened in 2023, provides three healthful meals a day, such as fish and chicken soup, which are seen as good for mothers’ milk production. It also offers parenting classes, massage, and yoga rooms. Attendants help mothers shower with herbal treatments. A small swimming pool is available for infants to float in.
The price tag for such care – from $12,000 to $19,000 for a monthlong stay, depending on the room size – puts it out of reach for many couples. But those who can afford it enjoy a month of repose and pampering.
“It saves us a lot of trouble,” says Ms. Wang, lounging in pajamas. “A car picked me up after the birth and will deliver me home. We have everything we need.”
China now has thousands of postpartum care centers scattered across its cities, catering mostly to upper-class urbanites. The industry is booming across East Asia, too – South Korea’s Ministry of Health and Welfare reports that roughly 85% of new mothers opt to recover at postpartum care centers. But it remains relatively rare in the West.
Sitting the month in the West
Julia Kim thought she was “hyper-prepared” for her first child’s birth in the United States in 2018. But despite all the books she’d read and veteran moms she’d quizzed, she felt quickly overwhelmed.
“The nurses wheel you up to your recovery room and just leave you with your newborn. That was really startling,” she says. “The recovery period, and learning the baby skills, was a lot more difficult than I ever imagined.”
After a similar experience with her second child, in 2023 Ms. Kim decided to launch a postnatal retreat within a boutique hotel in Tysons, Virginia. Her inspiration came from a Korean friend who told her about South Korean sanhu-jori (postpartum care) rituals, which closely resemble China’s sitting the month. She combined these practices with modern American standards and opened a center named Sanu.
For about $1,250 a night, Sanu offers 24-hour infant care, lactation support, massage therapy, meals, and parenting classes – giving parents a chance to rest, refresh, and connect with their baby. “You are not compelled to walk the dog or do the dishes,” she says. “You are there in a focused setting for your recovery and bonding.”
Ms. Kim also believes that extra support for mothers and babies in the early weeks could offer health benefits, noting that maternal and infant mortality rates are higher in the U.S. than in East Asian countries. She hopes her retreat can help “normalize” the concept in the U.S.
“As we scale as an industry, it will become more accessible,” she adds.
Keeping it homey
While fancy facilities such as Ms. Kim’s are becoming more popular, sitting the month remains for many a warm, homey ritual.
Nutritionist and anthropologist Georgine Leung was in London expecting her first child when her mother arrived from Hong Kong, bringing Cantonese sitting-the-month customs that would come to fascinate her. These include the consumption and sharing of ginger-heavy pork knuckle stew, seen as an energy-boosting tonic for new mothers.
Peeled fresh ginger is added to a large pot along with a sweet, dark vinegar – one brand has babies on the label – sold in specialized shops in Hong Kong. These are cooked slowly for one to two months before the birth, and later, pork knuckle and eggs are added.
The mother shares portions of the stew with family and friends as a kind of birth announcement, and then consumes the rest little by little over several months.
Ms. Leung, who is writing her doctoral dissertation on postpartum practices in Hong Kong, grew to appreciate the broader cultural and social importance of sitting the month.
“Becoming a mother is a huge life transition for a woman – not just having a child, but the change of all the roles in the family,” she says. For family harmony, “zuo yue zi needs to be done properly,” she says.