Hey, hey, hey! There are some good things about this mother and baby honeymoon! There really should be some studies done on the foods that chinese mothers are given, but I think the soups and chinese medicine might be very good for healing after childbirth. I know the fish soups that my mother in law made for me (and I continue to make once in a while now) helped me produce amazing amounts of milk. In the west, it’s hard not to do the cooking, laundry, housekeeping, etc. within days of giving birth, even having a csection. I remember going back to work just two weeks after my first child was born, and I even have a cousin who was in college and bragged that she only missed one class after the birth of her baby. Sure, we brag about that when we’re in our early twenties, but sooner or later, it catches up with us. Look at me, 32 and achy already.
In the old days, women did gather to help a new mother and care for her family so that she could regain her strength. This isn’t just a Chinese thing. Let the wife enjoy her little baby honeymoon. All too soon she’s going to be on her own (okay, maybe dad will help out too) dealing with colic, and gas, and sore nipples, etc.
Anyway, that’s my longwinded way of saying, “It ain’t all bad!”