MATERNAL INSTINCT

“月嫂”是怎样炼成的？

“Sitting the month” after childbirth is a lot easier when you’ve got someone else to do the heavy lifting. Enter the yuesao, professional maternity matrons with the training to help women through the most difficult month of their lives. Today, homebased post-natal care is now a proper industry with proper problems.

月入万余，供不应求？月嫂行业火爆的背后......

Lying comfortably in bed, Wang Ying, 29, doesn’t think having a baby was as difficult as people said it would be. In the 26 days since she gave birth to her son, aside from getting up a few times at night to feed him, she has had nothing to busy herself with—meals are served to her bed, warm bathwater is prepared, and she even enjoys an abdominal massage every day. This is all part of the 24-hour care offered by her “maternity matron.”

In China, maternity caregivers such as Wang’s are called yuesao, or 月嫂, with 月 meaning “month,” and 嫂 referring to relatively young married women. According to tradition, the month following childbirth is an important period of recovery for the mother. In this month, mothers are required to zuoyuezi, or 坐月子, which literally translates to“sit the month,” which means