Today, I had an interesting conversation with a non-mom friend of mine regarding the role of culture in the postpartum experience. She has a friend who struggled significantly post birth and found that her husband and family were unable and unwilling to support her due to a cultural norm that when women become moms they are expected to adapt quickly and never look back. This new mom's experience made me contemplate the impact of culture in the proper acknowledgment and support of postpartum issues.

When we found out we were pregnant, we also found out that three sets of friends were due in the same week. In face, we have had 9 sets of friends have babies in the time since our E was born. I share this fact not only to point out that there may be something in the water in Prague but more because of the 10 of us, our postpartum experience varied dramatically from our counterparts overseas. I will never forget J skyping with his friend right after E was born and he asked his buddy how the experience has been. His friend said "not bad at all considering our mothers move in for the first 40 days and we just rest." J's response? "Yeah, it is definitely not like that here" (Frown).

I suppose it could be possible to have our mothers move in for the first 40 days of life but it is rarely realistic. In fact, my mother was around a lot in those early days but she was always the first to state that it was time for the new family to have time to themselves. While that was appreciated, I can not help but look back at that time and wonder how I would have adapted had I been given those forty days of rest. I also wonder what the impact is on the bond between parent and child. My guess is that the practice of allowing the extended family into those early moments strengthens the village around the child and enriches the new parent experience.

What do you think? What elements of your culture were beneficial to you during your postpartum phase? What elements were the opposite?

What would you change about the place of new mothers in American culture?