Hi everyone, and welcome back to Britain under the microscope. 歡迎回來【閑話英倫】. Hi安瀾.

Hi, Lulu. Hi, everyone.

Let's move on now.

Now the baby is here.

So.

Let’s talk about postnatal care就是產后的. First of all, you don't have the idea of月子. 安瀾, 聽過月子嗎?

I have heard of that.

You don't have the idea at all.

No, not at all.

Are there any rules about women? Don’t wash your hair, don’t get cold or whatever because you’re vulnerable, you can take a shower immediately.

No. You can take a shower immediately. In many cases, they're probably encourage you to take a shower if you've been in labor for quite a long time.

Oh, even the medical professionals.

Yeah.

Okay. And now comes the very, very, very important thing. How long is your maternity leave?

New mothers can get 52 weeks of maternity leave.

那就是一年嘍, 產假是一年.

Yeah, 52 weeks.

And how early can you start taking it?

You can start 11 weeks before giving birth.

So roughly 3 months, the last trimester.

And the minimum amount is 2 weeks.

What does that mean? Minimum amount, you have to take?

You have to take 2 weeks off.

Okay.

But, generally in the UK, women won't be staying in hospital for that long after giving birth.

How long would they stay in a hospital after giving birth?

If all is well, if it was a very smooth birth, they could go home after about 6 hours, 6 to 24 hours.

I see, if there are no complications and such.

So let's get back dial back to the maternity leave. I’m just quite curious about that. When you say 52 weeks, how are the new mothers getting paid? Are they still getting paid?

The first 6 weeks are paid at 90% of weekly earnings. The rest of it is paid at ￡172.48.

That's so exact for everybody?

Yeah, for everyone.

Let me calculate, 172 for each week. Okay? They'll be slightly under￡700 per month.

Yeah. So it's not a large amount of money.

Especially if you were making a lot before.

Yeah.

I see, do they get anything I know in Scandinavian countries, you actually get like the whole basket of all these baby products, or when you give birth, do you have anything like that?

No.

So you don't get anything apart from just…

A baby.

Ok. Well, I mean, from the government.

No, you get childcare benefits, you get some tax relief, but you don't get like a present saying congratulations.

Okay. I see. What about new fathers? Do they get any paternity leave?

They do, they get 2weeks.

That's roughly the same as in China.

Yeah.

Okay.

It's not that different.

So it's really very different from like northern European countries where dad can get up to a few months to half a year.

Some Scandinavian countries I think like men can get like 18 years of paternity leave or something like that.

Yeah. I’m pretty sure that's exaggeration, but

Probably is.

But 安瀾, I’m gonna say something I’m gonna ask you something categorically.

Yes.

In the UK, generally, is it more than women who are expected to take care of the kids more or the men or both?

I would say now same as most countries, most of it falls on the woman, but again, as I say, society is changing. Men are expected to play an important role in child care.

So if a man doesn't really pay any attention to childcare, that is seen as a negative thing and people will judge that man.

Yeah, but only giving the man 2 weeks paternity leave is not encouraging that though, not encouraging men to take care of the baby to that extent.

Oh, no, not really, not really. And a lot of men do complain about that they don't have the time to spend with the baby. And in some cases, the men they go to work, they come home and still have to do nighttime feeding, take care of the baby, and also take care of the mother as well.

You don't have the idea of 月嫂、育兒嫂. Well, I guess you have nannies.

We have health visitors. So a health visitor will visit the mother and the baby on a regular basis, but that's only really for medical and for advice.

And that's covered by NHS.

That's covered by the NHS.

That's completely different though. That's just like a house-visitor, it’s just for like you said for medical.

But that's probably the only equivalent 月嫂 we have. In the UK you do have nannies but nannies are incredibly expensive. And they're only for the very very rich people. I would say it's similar to China kind of grandparents would also be helping.

I see, I see. Actually people are not that different.

Not really.

It’s just the cost of labor is very different. Having said that 月嫂 in China, they're also getting very very expensive.

Oh, yeah.

Okay. I’m pretty sure same as China, in the UK you would have some interesting traditions, customs relating to the birth of a new baby, care to share some?

I want to start with the oldest one, crossing the palm with silver.

Crossing the palm of your hand.

Yes.

With silver. What does that mean?

It's a really old tradition that some people still do. You put a silver coin in the baby's hand.

As soon as the baby is born?

Probably like a day or two after. If the baby grasp the coin really tightly, they will be responsible with money, if the baby drops it, they won't be good with money.

有點像我們的抓周, 但他沒有別的選擇, 就是抓著硬幣以后對錢會比較responsible.

對.

So 安瀾, I’m sure if they did this with you, the money will still be in your hands.

Ah. That's it.

They would never be able to...

Exactly. If it was me, I dare say I probably still have that money in my hand right now.

Just grabbing hold of it.

And also once heard you mention something to me, I think in another episode you said something called wetting the baby's head.

Yes.

It's not literally dunking the baby in water. Is it?

No, no. That's baptism or christening. Wetting the baby's head is a tradition that as soon as the baby is born, the father will see the baby and then go to the PUB with their friends and family.

I’m sorry, this tradition just sounds like the dad wants a drink.

Yes.

And they leaving the poor woman in the hospital.

Well, by that time she's normally asleep. The mother usually stays with the baby or in hospital and everyone goes for a drink.

I remember you mentioned to me when your sister you said your older sister when she had the baby, you did that with your family.

Yeah.

You went with your brother in law and with your dad, you just directly went to the PUB after seeing the baby. And you obviously you drank a toast to the baby.

Yes, we did.

The birth.

And we drank quite a lot.

Okay. I don't know what to say about that tradition, but let's wrap up here.

I know all of our listeners are coming from different backgrounds, maybe you have your hometown where original traditions about the birth of a baby, share with us; and also if you wanna know anything else, leave us a comment in the comment section. I just want to say once again, congratulations, Jenny.

Well done, Jenny.

Yeah. For turning a new leaf in your life. I’m sure you'll be a wonderful mom. And also if you guys want to hear anything else about life and tradition, culture in the UK, leave us comment in the comments section and request for it. We'll see you in the next episode.

Bye.

Bye.