Olympic frenzy = caesarean boom

For pregnant Chinese women, 8 August is particularly auspicious day for giving birth and not only because this is the slated start for the Beijing Olympics.

According to Chinese tradition, the eighth day of the eight month of the eighth year is considered extremely lucky. Coupled with the opening of the Games, giving birth on this day is thought to bring good luck to a baby.

You can guess what happens next. According to local reports, expectant women in Chinese cities have been requesting caesareans for that day. One hospital in Shijiazhuang has received requests from 78 pregnant women.

It has been noted that China has also been experiencing a baby boom this month because many women tried to time their pregnancy around giving birth in August.

Source: http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1181375

Beijing baby mamma badges

So it seems the Chinese government is concerned about pregnant women. These badges which say 'Thank you for helping my mother' are being distributed to women "so that their rights and safety can be better guaranteed in public."

Now, I'm not quite sure what that means. Is walking down the street now dangerous if you're pregnant? Are people supposed to treat you better if you're pregnant? Is this a way for you to get a seat on the train?

Or is this badge just an invitation for other people to tell Chinese pregnant women what to do? Perhaps we can read this badge as a foetus saying, 'Thanks for helping my mother, her womb is a dangerous place" especially when it comes to maternal behaviour. If mum is eating the wrong thing, having a drink or smoking are do strangers now have the right to intervene if you are wearing this badge?

The word "help" suggests that pregnant women are inept, need looking after, and that foetuses are the more important citizens.

Should pregnant women in other countries get badges announcing the presence of their foetuses?

Source: http://www.cctv.com/program/cultureexpress/20080627/104818.shtml

Baby bumps are big in China

According to reports out of Shanghai, pregnant women are getting professional portraits of their burgeoning bellies inspired by none other than the woman who is on the brink of having her license to exist revoked, Britney Spears. Ever since Brit posed for Harper's Bazaar nude and knocked up, Chinese women (mostly with successful careers and university education) are feeling more comfortable showing off their bumps and having a keepsake photo (especially in light of China's one-child policy). After all, remembering a pregnancy is obviously more important when it's only supposed to happen once.

I was so excited to find this report because I have been looking for this kind of information for the past year, although I have been particularly focused on Japan. As I have been corresponding with various scholars in the United States as to whether there is a similar term for 'baby bump' in Japanese (and apparently there is no direct translation), I have been unable to find any information about whether Asian women are as interested in showing off their bumps or doing pregnant portraits like many women in the US, Australia and the UK. Now, to find that the trend is catching on in China confirms some of my theories about the global nature of the media and how women feel about their bodies in pregnancy.

Source: http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200708090090.html