<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p> The Punjabi postpartum tradition is called sawa mahina (‘five weeks’). This study investigates infant health care belief practices in rural Punjab and looks at the social significance of infant care beliefs practiced during sawa mahina. During six months of fieldwork, using participant observation and unstructured interviews as primary research methods, the study explored the prevalent postpartum tradition from a childcare perspective. A Punjabi child holds a social value regarding familial, religious, and emotional values. The five-week traditional postpartum period provides an insight into mother-child attachment, related child care belief practices, and the social construction of infancy. A child’s agency is recognised in the embodied mother-child relationship, and a child is seen in a sympathetic connection with the mother. Establishing an early foundation of ascribed identities is another important part of postpartum belief practices.</p></abstract>

The Punjabi postpartum tradition is called sawa mahina (‘five weeks’). This study investigates infant health care belief practices in rural Punjab and looks at the social significance of infant care beliefs practiced during sawa mahina. During six months of fieldwork, using participant observation and unstructured interviews as primary research methods, the study explored the prevalent postpartum tradition from a childcare perspective. A Punjabi child holds a social value regarding familial, religious, and emotional values. The five-week traditional postpartum period provides an insight into mother-child attachment, related child care belief practices, and the social construction of infancy. A child’s agency is recognised in the embodied mother-child relationship, and a child is seen in a sympathetic connection with the mother. Establishing an early foundation of ascribed identities is another important part of postpartum belief practices.

The Postpartum Tradition of Sawa Mahina in Rural Punjab, Pakistan

Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

{"article-title":"The Postpartum Tradition of Sawa Mahina in Rural Punjab, Pakistan"}

The Punjabi postpartum tradition is called sawa mahina (‘five weeks’). This study investigates infant health care belief practices in rural Punjab and looks at...

The Postpartum Tradition of Sawa Mahina in Rural Punjab, Pakistan

Article Category: Special Issue: Contemporary Ritual Landscapes

Published Online: Jul 13, 2017

Page range: 127 - 150

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/jef-2017-0008

Keywords
postpartum tradition, social construction of infancy, sawa mahina, infant care belief practices, mother-child sympathetic connection

© 2017

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

The Postpartum Tradition of Sawa Mahina in Rural Punjab, Pakistan

Article Category: Special Issue: Contemporary Ritual Landscapes

Published Online: Jul 13, 2017

Page range: 127 - 150

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/jef-2017-0008

Keywordspostpartum tradition, social construction of infancy, sawa mahina, infant care belief practices, mother-child sympathetic connection

© 2017

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
postpartum tradition, social construction of infancy, sawa mahina, infant care belief practices, mother-child sympathetic connection