šestinedělí
Customs & Traditions Culture & Science

Šestinedělí – Czech Puerperium

Šestinedělí is a period of six weeks after the birth of a child (puerperium) that has a lot of traditions tied to it and is still often observed in the Czech Republic.

What is šestinedělí

The word šestinedělí could be translated as “six Sundays” and originally, it referred to the period of 40 days after which Mary and Joseph brought baby Jesus to the Jerusalem temple. In the old times, a woman was considered unclean and bad luck during this period. Nowadays, there is no stigma in the Czech society, however, these six weeks are still considered a time of importance.

Puerperium in Czech Republic

History and Folklore

The weeks following the childbirth have always been a very special time, although in many cases, they shrunk into days out of necessity. It was a time of seclusion for the mother and in simple households that would mean staying in bed with curtains around it. This was due to the fact that rural houses often consisted of one room (for the whole family, helpers, sometimes also animals) and this gave the mother and baby at least some privacy. And because the bed was usually in the corner of the room, this was called kout (“corner”). The curtain was called koutnice or firhaněk and traditionally, it was embroidered with red thread (for protection against evil forces) with a lace stripe through which the mother could see what was going on in the room. These curtains were inherited or part of the dowry.

šestinedělí
Kout; source: https://is.muni.cz/do/rect/el/estud/lf/ps20/porodni_asistence/web/pages/13_05_historicko_spiritualni_aspekt.html

The lochia were considered a source of evil forces, therefore, the kout would be sprinkled with holy water and birch twigs would be placed under the bed.

Not all women were fortunate enough to be able to rest after giving birth. If the child was born in autumn after all the field works have finished, she would be allowed more time of bedrest as all the works were now focused on the house and indoors. However, mothers who gave birth in spring and summer would often go and help in the field just a few days after the baby has been born. If the mother did have weeks to rest, it would be also time of feasting for her. Other women – family and neighbors – would bring her food that would help her regain strength, especially strong poultry broths, meat, beer soup with eggs and honey, bread, koláče, trdelníkboží milosti, koblihy and other. Food was brought in special containers called koutňáky and there was symbolism to some of the dishes and ingredients – for example, the longer the noodles in the soup, the more chance that the child would live into adulthood. In some places, hens were cooked with legs and claws to ensure the child would run well, or the plates weren’t washed in order to not wash away the child’s good luck.

source: https://vltava.rozhlas.cz/

Also wine and sometimes stronger alcohol were considered strengthening. There gifts were not only helpful but also necessary as a woman in her puerperium period was considered unclean and couldn’t cook. Bringing food to the mother was an honorable role, as women who did, could accompany the mother to the so-called úvod – ceremonial introduction into the society of mothers.

End of šestinedělí

A mother couldn’t just get up and join her family and society at the end of šestinedělí. There was a ritual to be performed that dates back to the times before Christianity. It was a ritual of cleansing during which the room would be fumigated and both the room and the mother would be washed, often by pouring water over the mother.

The church introduction would be rather a spiritual cleansing, a ceremony of forgiveness, gratitude and blessing. It was an honor for the mother as she was accepted into the society of mothers. The child would be dressed in the same way like for the christening, the mother would wear a dress given to her by the godmother or her wedding dress and a feast would follow this ceremony.

Superstitions

Women in the puerperium period used to be seen as bringers of bad luck and there were several superstitions about this time:

  • If a woman in puerperium (so-called šestinedělka) touches a tree, it will dry.
  • If she steps outside of the space designated for her, she will bring hailstorm, floods, fire and other disasters.
  • If she doesn’t stay in kout during the time necessary, the Midday witch (polednice) or the Twilight witch (klekánice) would come.
  • If she milks a cow, the cow will loose her milk.

The room couldn’t be painted, bedsheets changed or the blankets aired out and the mother was never to leave the baby or the witches would switch her baby. She couldn’t turn her back to the baby before it was christened.

Modern šestinedělí

Well until the beginning of the second half of the 20th century, šestinedělí was equal to the maternity leave. Especially during the reign of the communist party when “building socialism” was the motto of everything, women had to go back to work after that (whilst nowadays, they can take up to 4 years of age of the child as parental leave).

Modern puerperium in the Czech society has maintained some of its traditional aspects, while other are lost. Some women like to take these six weeks as a time for themselves and their baby when not many visits are welcome and those who come for a visit are expected to bring food or help in the household. The medicine backs this approach up as this is the approximate time needed for the organs to get back to their pre-pregnancy state. However, some women decide not to “take it easy” and join social life much sooner.

A proof of how seriously the Czech society takes this period in a woman’s life is the fact that if such a woman needs to go to a doctor and says she’s šestinedělka, she will often be treated with preference.

Bringing gifts is a tradition that has persisted. It doesn’t need to be just very nutritious food but also material gifts for the mother and baby.

Sources

If you understand written Czech, I have here a few suggestions on some really interesting sources where you can learn more about the history and folklore of the Czech puerperium:

You may also like...

Our most popular posts