Of Baby's Full Moon, Pui Yits And Ang koos

When a baby turns one month old, most Chinese parents celebrate the event with a party. The celebration is called ''Baby' s Full Moon" and it also marks the last day of confinement for the baby's mother. The confinement period is a traditional post-natal Asian practice and is so called because the post-partum mom is confined to the home for a period of one month after the delivery of her baby. Various routines and rules are observed. A special diet is cooked for the mom to help accelerate her recovery from her weakened state and replenish the loss of blood and nutrients after childbirth. The Chinese believe that everything in life requires a balance between the Yin and the Yang in order for harmony to exist. Yin is cold and Yang is hot and the Yang in a post-natal mom diminishes after child birth. To restore the lost Yang and expel the trapped 'wind' in her body (when the placenta is exerted out) , she is given "hot" foods that are loaded with ginger, sesame oil, black vinegar, rice wine, etc.

The confinement period is an entire month of total pampering for the post-natal mom. While she rests all day and eats 5 meals per day, a 'Pui Yit' does all the chores, cooks and looks after the newborn. Traditionally, the role of the Pui Yit is played by the mother-in-law so it's kinda like pay-back-time for the post-natal mom! These days, moms-in-law would gladly relinquish this role. I know I would.
A 'pui yit' (literally translated as confinement companion in Cantonese) is employed to care for the mother and newborn during her period of confinement. Pui Yits are generally elderly ladies above their 50s. These ladies usually have a brood of children and grandchildren and so with their vast experience and wisdom that supposedly commensurate with age , they qualify for the position.
For that one month of sleepless nights (yes, they change the nappies and bottle feed the babies), they are paid a hefty sum (a four figure salary) and a generous ang-pow for their effort!
The downside of the confinement period? There is a long list of taboos and DOs and DONTs to adhere to. The pui yit watches the post-natal mom like a hawk so it's not easy to get away with the rules.

Here are just a few.

1. Bathing in really, really hot water that has been infused with lemon grass, old ginger, tumeric leaves and brandy to prevent rheumatism and joint pains in later years.

2. No washing of hair for an entire month! My head started to itch after the second day and 2 weeks was my breaking point. I washed my hair on the sly when the pui yit dozed off and started to snore. Of course she found out and scared me with tales of moms who disobeyed and ended up sorry.

3. No eating of yams or your 'wound' would itch for a hundred days!!

4. No stepping out of the house (hence the word 'confinement') - something to do with encountering evil baby-snatching spirits. Seriously, who wants to be seen in public when your hair stinks to high-heaven! I had this mental image of flies buzzing around my head where mushrooms had sprouted.

4. Drinking water while standing causes incontinence. Hmmmm, is that why I leak whenever I yell at my boys?

5. Eating 'hot' foods. Sceptics, explain this! Hubby who could never resist a warm bowl of 'Jee Geok Choe' (pig trotters in black vinegar) had one too many and ended up with high fever. Too much Yang!!

For more confinement taboos read here...

On the last day of the confinement period, gift packs consisting of red eggs, angkoos, yellow rice, curry and pickled ginger are distributed to relatives and friends as proclamation that a new member has been added to the family and that the confined mom is now ready to receive visitors. A party is usually held and visitors arrive bearing gifts and ang-pows for the baby.

Every item in this basket has a symbolic meaning

Hard-boiled eggs with their shells dyed red symbolize prosperity and fertility

Angkoos (meaning red tortoise in Hokkien) represent the baby's gender. Plain for males and textured for females.

Rice to ensure that there will always be food on the table (not sure about the yellow colour).