Objective: To describe women's behavioral patterns in the period of "doing the month" (confinement in childbirth) and to determine the degree of differences between "doing the month" practices and daily behaviors.
Methods: A retrospective survey was conducted with a random sample of 1,813 women who were interviewed using a questionnaire undertaken in May of 2004.
Results: The results showed that the majority of women adhered to the traditional customs. While "doing the month", more than 90% of women did not eat cold, hard, or sour food; more than 90% of the women did not wash their hair or body at all, and more than 70% of women did not brush their teeth or wash their feet. As compared to what women normally do, most women drastically changed their practices in eating, sanitation, dress, activity, doing chores, and so on, during their "doing the month". Further analysis indicated that women's age had no effect on the change of practice patterns and that women's education had an inconsequential effect.
Conclusion: The traditional "doing the month" practices are still very popular in the rural areas of China. Birth belief, illness concept and traditional village culture are the main factors for the pattern of "doing the month".