Chopadi - Culture versus Cruelty

My sister has just given birth to her first daughter 9 days ago. She is now in the comfort of our house, under the care of my mother, observing the traditional chinese custom of confinement after birth, for 1 whole month (zuo yue). She is supposed to have lotsa rest, eat lotsa restorative foods, not do any strenous work. She cannot go out of the house so as to avoid wind/draft and any disease causing sources. Her sole responsibility is to nurse the new-born and besides that most things are taken care of for her. The end of the confinement period will then be marked by a celebration of the first month of the baby with gift distributed to family and friends. The birth of the child is marked with joy and happiness, and the welfare of the mother is of great priority.

What caught my attention when I was listening to the bbc this morning was a report on Chopadi, a traditional practice in Nepal whereby women are expelled from their home for 11 days after childbirth, and for all post-pubescent women, during their monthly periods. The post-natal or menstruating woman is thought to be 'unclean' and is thus ignored by family members during this confinement period. When these women, right after childbirth, should be needing nutritious food, warmth and comfort, many are cooped up in dark damp windowless sheds and exposed to harsh weather elements. Many of these mothers die of pneumonia and conditions that arise from these severe living conditions.

It is inconceivable to me how such a maladaptive custom can survive for so long through the ages. It sounds as if it would be a major cause of mortality in women of child-bearing age and their infants ( who would probably be best cared for by their mothers). If not thinking in terms of the impact on individual women, should not there be devastating effects on the health of the nepalese population as a whole. So should not the society have self-correctted such self-inflicted damage on itself by slowly abolishing this custom? It is also shocking how this difference in culture could mean life or death for women after child-birth.

The Nepalese government has just passed a law banning the custom. So that is definitely good news. But it sounds like this custom is deeply ingrained in the largely patriarchal nepalese society. hopefully time would make a change.

go see
http://www.nepalitimes.com.np/issue/247/GuestColumn/267
(anyone has other sources of information on this?)