Newborn Baby in Korea

"Baby eats, feels, thinks, and sees what mom eat, feels, thinks and sees"

When Korean women find out that she is pregnant, they should follow certain order of whom she should tells first. She must tell her mother-in-law first, followed by her husband, and lastly her own mother. During the childbirth, it is customary for the Korean to hang "Geumjul" (twisted straw rope) across the gate of the house to frighten evil spirits away. 

"Geumjul" - twisted from right to left as it is believed that it
will have the effect of warding off evil spirits

After giving birth of the baby, seaweed soup (miyuk gook) will be fed to the new mothers and continuously the mother must eat it up to three weeks ahead. The nutrients from the seaweed are likely believe to help cleanse the blood after childbirth. 

"It's one of the most nutrient-rich foods and has lots of vitamins. Eating it helps the mother develop healthy breast milk and recover from childbirth." said Hannah Chung, whose family is originally from South Korea.

Seaweed Soup

Other than that, the baby must be kept in the house and away from strangers for the first year. This is likely to avoid the baby from any harm and illness since the baby are still small and fragile..