IT is fortunate for the young Burman that on his first
appearance in the world all attention is directed to the
mother, and the "little stranger" is left very much to
himself till he has attained a stronger vitality. Were it not
so, the rival parties of the Dietists and Druggists might
quarrel over the relative quantities of the four elements, fire,
air, earth, and water, composing the new arrival, and diet
and dose him out of existence immediately, in a heroic
attempt to attain an equilibrium of forces. The mother
indeed is the major point of interest in all countries, but
childbirth nowhere entails such penalties as in Burma.
Directly the child is born, the mother is rubbed all over
with na-nwin (turmeric), and a big fire is lighted as near as
the construction of the wooden or bamboo house permits,
while rugs and blankets are heaped over her to the extent
of the possessions of the family. As speedily as possible
the midwife prepares a draught called say sehn (green
medicine), the composition of which is a tradition with the
Woon Swes, and is kept a secret from inquisitive males.
This the victim in bed has to drink perpetually during seven
days, and for the same period, irrespective of the blankets and
the time of year, is heated up with oht poo. These are big
circular or lozenge-shaped bricks. They are heated blazing
hot in the wood fire, dropped for a few seconds into a pot
full of water, and then wrapped up in cloths and applied to
the body of the mother. In addition to this, doses of
turmeric are regularly administered, and every now and then