CHILD BIRTH
A local midwife, a Dai, was arranged as soon as possible after the girl was brought home. The Dai was the one who would prescribe the diet and medication, including various oils and dry roots and barks to be used in heating the water, for giving baths to the girl pre- and post - partum. She should be present during labour, assisting in delivery, receiving the child and cleaning up both mother and the baby. That was not only her duty but an established right too.
​
If within reachable distance, the mother-in-law ought to be informed immediately the labour pains start, so that she could be there in time to receive the baby from the Dai, that being her right.
Until about six days the child was kept wrapped in used cotton cloth, washed in soap nut (Reettha or Aaareettha) lather and dried in the sun, may be as a sign of humility. Making dress or socks and sweaters in advance for the expected child was prohibited, as it was considered to affect the life of the child. One possible reason was the prevalence of premature or still births, and high infant mortality rates. The sight of the dress so made could also induce grief to the mother, much undesirable in the post partum recovery period. Further, the sex of the child would be known only after the birth, although some people used to predict in advance from the shape of the abdomen, it was thought to be an encroachment on Allah’s domain.
Almost every household possessed a dry shrub called Mariyam Phool or Mariyam Booty, still seen at Arab sooks and with footpath vendors around certain mosques in Medina and Uhad. It is actually a branch of a desert shrub, the top of which folds like a flower when dry. As soon as the labour pain started, it would be immersed in a bowl of water and an old lady would sit across watching it slowly opening up. It was believed that the flower would reach full bloom by the time the delivery takes place. So it was also a timer device! Any delay in its blooming was attributed to difficulty in labour. In order to ease the pain, strain and delay, the woman in labour was given the water where the Mariyam flower was being soaked, following an Arab custom where it was claimed that Prophet (SA) administered Mariyam water to a woman in severe labour pains and that she was instantly relieved
