THE ARRIVAL OF A NEW BABY IN MY CULTURE

HELLO Dearest cross culturist ….its a good day to be alive, was just going thru the platform then i came across the Cross culture contest at first i was excited, just for me to discover that the contest took place 3months ago,…well?

that’s my bad cause i came in just last month, but all the same i'm still willing to share,

“Arrival of a new baby” cause my neighbor just put to birth a bouncing baby girl sweet and charming and i thought it did be great if i shared the good news on the platform… maybe I’d get some love,

but am not only going to do that I’ll let you all know the tradition, how we welcome new bees bundle of joy in Akwa-Ibom state Nigeria.

how we treat the mother after delivery

what is requires of the husband especially if it’s their first child including the naming ceremony rite …ready?...let’s dive in..

Approximately three weeks ago I came back hearing a shout of joy and excitement,
when i enquired i heard my neighbor had delivered of a baby girl, it was a joyous moment for all of us at the compound…

What we do when a baby arrives, normally its a great news everybody celebrates rejoice drink to their full…..

then the the eldest woman will bring a powder poured it on the father and everyone will have to pour the powder on their body as a sign of celebration and jubilation. Then everybody will merry.

Now if that’s their first child the lady goes on “umuogwo” it means that the mother of the child will either go to her own mother or the husband mother were she will be cared for for three months, during this time she won’t go outside or do any hard chores, she won’t be allowed to do any chores or go out of the compound…

Every morning her mother will birth the new baby and later on birth the mother, she will be given rich and spicy food.

the birthing process

mother and child

At the end of these period a ceremony will be held at which the husband comes to get his wife…meaning its a period for the lady to step out for the first time.

She will rub white chalk all over her self and also rub palm oil on her body carrying a tray with some fishes and other condiment to show the people that these what she’s been eating for the past three month, people will need to appreciate her by eating from the tray and giving her money,

now when these is done she will then rub the oil in her hand on the husband which now dances with her…and then take her home after a redress.

for the naming ceremony it’s a ceremony were few friends and relatives gather to suggest names to the baby, they’d have to come up with different names for the baby, finally the father will say the choosen name for the baby and there’s a moment for the support for the child and the parent….then there’s the celebration that follows

So thats it for how we celebrate the arrival of a new baby