CRI听力:Luxury Live-in Care for Mothers after Giving Birth

Principal Give Students Impromptu Haircuts 

In one mother and baby hotel in the centre of Chinese Taipei, the room service menu includes milk, either pumped breast-milk or formula milk, provided 24-hours by professional nurses.

The guests are all new mothers. They're being served carefully prepared traditional Chinese meals to nurse their bodies back to health after delivery.

This is a place where a new mother and her baby can spend one-month in what Chinese called "Postpartum Confinement" or Zuo Yuezi, which literally translates as "sitting for the month".

This is an old tradition. During the 30-days, the mother is not allowed to do any chores or even step out of her room.
　
Wu Chia-rong checked into a specially designed luxury centre called "Lantan" when it came time for her child to be born. She has spent her postpartum confinement in a nicely decorated studio room, with a flat-screen TV and a Jacuzzi bathtub.

"After I delivered my baby, I came here. And I spend really a good time here and took a good rest here. I choose to stay here because my family is very busy recently so they don't have enough time to take care of me. So they suggest me that I can stay here because here they have very professional nurses."

Traditionally, the postpartum confinement is done at home, with family offering support. But with more money to spare and independent mindsets, modern mothers find it more convenient to just check-in to one of the many postpartum centers that have sprung up around Taiwan.
And many are now doing it in style. In some centers, the experience is closer to staying in a five-star hotel.

Susan Chen, Director of　the "Celebron" centre, says the service is similar to a five-star hotel with spa and massage services, Chinese medicine, room service and outdoor recreational areas.
But more importantly, mothers are willing to pay for experienced nurses and rooms with a view.

"One of the reasons that our centre is different is the environment. Not many centres have a great view of mountains, or beautiful outdoor areas like we do here. Another reason is our professional nurses. We have many baby nurses, some have 30 years of experiences, some have 20 years as reproductive care nurses."

The postpartum confinement tradition dates back thousands of years and is still observed by Chinese around the world.

For CRI, I'm Wang Wei.