Postnatal confinement: A tradition to follow or abandon?

Helen (Germany)

In Germany, new moms can stay in hospital for up to five days after a normal birth and two weeks after a c-section. I think enforced confinement is unfair on the mother and the idea of not washing hair for a month fills me with horror. However, it would have been lovely to have been 'looked after' for a month – to be fed, have the house cleaned, the shopping done so I could have just concentrated on my new baby.

The new mothers practice yoga to help them get back in shape at the center in Fuzhou, Fujian province. [Photo/chinanews.com]