The Slavs
Childbirth has always been a great sacrament, to which a woman prepared in advance. During this period, people around her treated her with understanding and care - they were released from domestic duties, they fulfilled all the whims. Yes, and the whims of something called in a special way. "I lamented," the people said. That is, all the woman's desires from God, and they can not be contradicted. And it is not her desire, but a child who expresses them in the only possible way. Therefore, we had a special custom - a pregnant woman could go into any garden and eat whatever she wanted: an apple, a cucumber, a turnip. And to deny her was considered a great sin. By special criteria, a midwife was chosen - a woman who has only healthy children, who has purity of mind and thoughts. At the first bouts, she took the woman in childbirth away from home. Because of the fear of the "evil eye" and "dashing people", it was often necessary to give birth in the hayloft, in the bathhouse, and sometimes in the oven, while the father prayed diligently before the icon. Due to the fact that the places for delivery were chosen not by the criteria of cleanliness, many women in labor often became victims of infection, often leading to the death of the mother and child. In people, this illness was called "maternal fever", and the fate of a woman depended solely on her health.It is interesting that the first birth was important only by what was estimated as a "touchstone" - if they were successful, then in the future the woman will be able to give birth . The death of the firstborn did not become a tragedy, the very fact of a successful resolution from childbirth was important.
Kyrgyzstan
In Kyrgyzstan, the birth of a baby has always been the most important and joyful event in the life of family and clan. After all, the child was considered a symbol of the immortality of the people. Therefore, the pregnant woman was guarded in every possible way, forbidden to go out of the village without escort, they watched her wearing amulets from evil spirits ("tumar" with sayings from the Koran, amulets from the claws of the bear and the feet of the eagle owl.) During the birth, , near the hearth, the dagger lay with the point to the door, and over the head of the woman in childbirth hanged a loaded rifle - according to legends, all this drove away the evil forces, and after the birth there were a number of actions and rituals: gifts were presented for the message of joyful news, for the first time to look at the baby, but for soro ichey in honor of the newborn was arranged a feast. I had some fun at glory.
Kazakhstan
The Kazakhs had a whole ritual of magical actions with the afterbirth and the umbilical cord. Usually the midwife was cut by a midwife, a pregnant girl who was a child or an elderly woman who became a child for the child as if it were a second mother, "kindik sheshe." She had to be honest, energetic and possess exceptionally good qualities that, according to the belief, were passed on to the child. the family had no children for a long time and a son was born, then the man cut the umbilical cord, which was buried far from home, in a "clean" place. And the umbilical cord was an amulet, it was sewn to the cradle of a baby. Sometimes the umbilical cord was put into water, and after a few days this "infusion" was used as a cure for cattle.
Caucasus
In the harsh Caucasus, childbirth (especially the first) was a joyful and significant event. For example, in Dagestan, from the very beginning of the marriage, certain "magic" actions were carried out, which were supposed to lead to conception, for example, a young wife drank raw chicken eggs and bathed in water from seven springs, and the mother was sprayed with water with ashes from the hearth. pregnant women were cared for, they did not load the work, they took care of everything in every way, the births took place in the husband's house, where all the men were expelled.
Iran
In this country, one of the most cruel in relation to pregnant women is the religion of the Zoroastrians, in which diseases and the birth of a child are considered as a desecration of the purity of the body and a violation of the ideal physical condition of a person. Before the very birth, women received certain benefits - in their house there was always a fire, and the whole family had to maintain the smoothness of its flame. It was believed that when a baby is born, the devil is to him, and only a glowing flame of fire can save the child from it. After the birth, the ritual of purifying the mother and child was very difficult and lasted 40 days. In the first days after birth, a woman could not drink clean water, go to the hearth and bask beside him, even if the childbirth occurred in the winter and was very cold. Often, these restrictions led to the death of the fragile woman after birth and her child.
United Kingdom
In Scotland, it was a custom to open all the locks and bolts in the house when a woman is allowed from a burden. And also untying knots and loosening belts on women's clothes. It was believed that this would help the child to be born easier. And in neighboring England, the birth of a child was accompanied by a merry feast and a plentiful feast-all guests on that day were necessarily served tea with brandy or whiskey, biscuits, buns with raisins, and was considered a bad sign if someone refused to drink or treat.
Israel
According to biblical laws, after the birth of a boy the woman remains unclean for 7 days, and then for 33 days she can not touch anything sacred - "stay in cleansing." At the birth of the girl, all terms are doubled: a woman is considered unclean for two weeks, and then "resides in purification "for as long as 66 days. Despite this, in Israel the Jews recognized and still recognize maternity as a special way of serving God. Not for nothing that a woman-mother enjoys great honor, and kinship is transmitted on the maternal line. After studying the biblical descriptions of the genera, the scientists came to the conclusion that before the Jewish women gave birth, sitting on a special chair, "mashber", or on her husband's knees. "A week before the birth, her friends would come to the future mother and sing songs asking for a happy fate for the child. On the day of childbirth, the mother-in-law unleashed all the tapes, untwisted the scythe, all the doors and windows were opened - this was to facilitate the birth.
Papua New Guinea
In this country there is still an amusing ancient custom (characteristic, however, for many tribes): after learning about the wife's pregnancy, the man is obliged to leave the house, do not communicate with fellow tribesmen and live in the hut he built until the child is born. At the very beginning of the struggle, the woman goes to the forest, where she gives birth, squatting or standing on all fours. At this time the future father in his hut moans and beats in convulsions, imitating the woman in childbirth. So he distracts evil spirits from his wife and child.
Ancient China and Ancient India
Very rational, from the modern point of view, were the customs of Ancient China and Ancient India: already 3 months after conception, "the child was brought up before birth." The pregnant women were surrounded by beautiful things, they listened only to beautiful music-there were even special concerts for pregnant women, eating delicious consecrated food, painted, played on musical instruments, clothes for future mothers were sewed only from expensive, pleasant tissues of the body.This harmonious environment was to develop a sense of beauty in the child .In India, the wife The importance of singing was to use diaphragmatic breathing that helps to saturate the body with oxygen.The deep breath is a long exhalation and today such breathing is the basis of many exercises and relaxing techniques for expectant mothers.
Interesting Facts
♦ Mother Napoleon, being a pregnant son, sketched sketches of soldiers, and then arranged with them battles. Perhaps this was the key to Napoleon's passionate love for the battles.
♦ According to legend, Julius Caesar (Keisar in Hebrew means "emperor") was born as a result of the section, which was later called "Caesar's".
♦ From the "maternal fever" (sepsis) during the epidemics in the XIX century, a third of women in labor were dying in the maternity hospitals, this continued until 1880, when antiseptics were widely used.
♦ Of the 72 texts of the "Hippocratic Collection" 3 are devoted directly to pregnancy and midwifery:
"On the seven-month-old fetus," "On the eight-month-old fetus," "On embryotomy."
♦ Arab women had the longest post-natal rest - it lasted 40 days.