Sunday, May 12, 2013

Childbirth in your life and around the world


I believe that the birthing experience is a beautiful thing. Unfortunately, I haven’t experienced this beauty yet. I have no kids and I do not remember my birthing experience.

I always wanted to visit Thailand so I did a little research on Thailand’s birthing experiences. Thailand is very similar to the US except they do have a few traditions after the birth of a child.

First, when a baby is born, on the 3rd day the baby is placed into a basket with a pencil and a notebook (for brightness), and money (for richness); girls are also given knives (to cut and comb hair) and cooking utensils. The basket with the baby and instruments is then handed over to “a respectable man in the village. This means that the baby became his adopted child temporarily, in the US we call this “God Parents”

Second, a child is not given a name until the fifth day after birth. Another interesting point is that babies are also sometimes given a mixture of banana, honey, and water to prevent diarrhea. If the baby cries too much and cannot sleep, it is believed that the baby’s guardian spirit, Mae Sue” is teasing the newborn too much. I really enjoyed learning about the different things that the Thailand culture follows.

2 comments:

  1. Hi Elijah,

    You live in such a different world than I do to have never been involved with a birth! I enjoyed hearing about the Thailand traditions!

    Liz Thomas

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  2. Hello Elijah,

    It was very interesting to learn about the birth traditions that are performed in Thailand. I found it neat that they give their babies honey, when in the U.S. doctors don't recommend babies to consume honey until they are at least one years of age. At that point, they are considered to be more of a toddler, especially if they are walking. But, different places exhibit different behaviors and norms based on their culture.

    Thanks for that informative post!

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