Impurity after childbirth

[4][5][6] Based on passages from the Aitareya Brahmana, anthropologist Gabriella Eichinger Ferro-Luzzi infers that this practice dates back to the Vedic era.

Depending on the local tradition and the family's resources, this may be a dedicated hut (atur-ghar or sutikagara), a repurposed shed or outhouse, or simply an unused room of the house.

[4][12] She is especially responsible for those tasks which are considered impure, such as cutting the umbilical cord, touching the genitals of the woman in labor, and bathing the mother and child.

[4] The mother's bangles and all the clay pots in the household are broken; the clothes worn during labor, the bedding, and the receiving blanket are disposed of; dirt floors are refinished; and the tool used to cut the umbilical cord is purified.

[4] She traditionally remains confined to the house for this period, and while she may resume many of her ordinary household tasks, she continues to avoid cooking, grinding flour, and touching water.

[4][6] The exact span of the period of lesser impurity varies according to local custom; it may depend on the sex of the infant or the caste of the mother, or the end date may be set by a Brahmin.

[4][7][10][11] Towards the end of this time, the new mother may participate in a ritual touching of earthenware, marking the point at which she is allowed to handle pots and enter the kitchen.

[7] At the end of the period of impurity, the woman bathes, her clothes and bedding are washed, and some women engage in a "well worship" (Daghar Puja) ritual.

[4] Many indigenous people of New Guinea observe various forms of postpartum impurity, although some anthropologists argue that this is best understood, not as pollution, but as a dangerous proximity to the sacred.

Women in these tribes typically give birth in dedicated huts at some distance from the village, alone or with female attendants; lochia, like menstrual blood, is thought to be dangerous to men.

[21] In Tanzania, Bena women are considered impure after childbirth, and for this reason commonly delay breastfeeding for one to two days until uterine involution occurs.

Kumlehedzya umwana, the cleansing ritual which marks the end of the period of seclusion, involves traditional herbs (mugoda or mafikho) given to all members of the household.

[25][26] Within the realm of Biblical law and post-Biblical Jewish religious discourse surrounding tumah and taharah, the impurity is called in Hebrew tumat yoledet.

Etching (Germany, c. 1731) illustrating the uncleanliness of the mother after giving birth, according to Jewish law. The Book of Leviticus states that a mother should be considered unclean for 40 days after giving birth to a boy and for 80 days after giving birth to a girl. The scene shows a mother in bed eating, surrounded by women and children. Her baby is rocked in a crib. In the foreground, three children ladle water from a jar. In the background is a tented community.