CARE OF MOTHERS AND BABIES IN THAILAND

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28479, 8 January 1958, Page 2

CARE OF MOTHERS AND BABIES IN THAILAND

[By (

CHIRABHA ONRUANG.

of Thailand.l

I have always been surprised to see women in New Zealand take their babies in prams everywhere with them. It is an easy and convenient way to manage. But sometimes I wonder do they mind about the baby’s health? In my country, babies are not allowed to be taken outside until they are strong enough, which is about six or eight months. The care of babies in Thailand and New Zealand is different. When they are pregnant, the educated women in Thailand are looked after as carefully as the sick person is. They go to the maternity hospital to take treatment every month from the first month of pregnancy. But the pregnant woman in the villages does not receive this treatment. She carries on as she usually does, because she is expected to work hard as a good exercise for strengthening the unborn baby, and to make the labour easier.

A pregnant woman in Thailand is not restricted in her diet. She can eat whatever she likes, and the favourite food is the fruit, such as oranges, mangoes, and pineapples. When she is feeling the onset of labour pains, a woman who lives in town goes to the maternity hospital, but for one in the village, the birth takes place at home, and a midwife or an old woman who knoifrs a good

deal about helping at a birth is called in. After the birth takes place, the mother goes to bed and a fire is made beside her bed, and heated bricks are also applied to her. Sometimes hotwater bottles are used instead of bricks. She has to stay in bed for one or two weeks. When a baby is born, both in towns and villages, the cousins and friends of the parents come to see him and give him a gift, such as soap, baby powder, clothes, knitted frocks, or socks. Naming Ceremony

The child, until one month old, is given no real name, he is called by a nickname. For example, the first child is always named Yai, which means big, and the second is Leg—small. After one month, the naming day is celebrated by the family and sometimes also by neighbours and friends. This ceremony is called Kone Pom Fire, which means the baby has his first hair cut on that day and he is also given his name. The name is usually given by the priest or the child’s grandparent or a respected person of the family. It is chosen from the time, day, month and year—in other words, from the child’s star, and sometimes starting with the same letter of the alphabet as its parent’s name. A boy’s name is different from a girl’s. He is called for such things as bravery, intelligence, development, or by the name of big animals such as Veera (bravery), Preecha (intelligence), and Mongkorn (dragon). A girl’s name is according to the name of flowers, womanhood or lovely things. For example, Übol (lotus), Kularb (rose), and Kanda (woman). The priests are invited to the ceremony. They bless the child with happiness and the parents give the priest food, flowers, and candles. When the priests go away, there is a big feast and cousins, friends and neighbours bring gifts to the child. The majority of babies in Thailand are breast fed. Some mothers suckle the babies when they cry, but others have a time-table for feeding them. New-born oabies are given the breast every three or four hours. In the early months, babies are inseparable from their mothers. A farmer’s wife gives her baby the breast until they have a new baby or the child is at the age of compulsory schooling. When the mother goes to the market, gardening or farming, she takes the child with her by carrying it in her arms, or she balances it on her hips. In general, mothers give the child breast milk for four to eight months. Her Majesty the Queen gives her children her breast milk until four months. But the mothers who have to work give their babies the breast milk only for one month or suckle them by night and feed them milk powder by day, while they are in the care of grandmother, aunt, or cousin. At six or eight months, the child’s diet is supplemented oy eggs, fruits, orange juices, pineapple, vegetable soup and rice soup, and other solid food. This diet is increased until the child has the same diet as adults. Some children in the villages, however, can e<t everything that the mother liken to give them.