Birth of the first child

7.1.2 Birth of the first child

After the child is born, a maternal uncle of the new infant should formally present the baby to his sister the new mother. This presentation is called m̄ bɛ̄nkimɛ ‘the showing’. When a child is born at home as opposed to a maternity unit, an ū bītēkɔ 57 a traditional midwife, who is an experienced lady from the village signals the baby’s arrival to those waiting outside. The new father then sends one of his brothers who, in turn, is a classificatory father of the newborn child to inform the new mother’s brothers, now new maternal uncles, of the baby’s arrival. The midwife cleans and wraps the baby, then places it on a mat next to the mother. Despite this, the new mother is not supposed to look at or touch the baby. Except for the new father who is not allowed to learn the sex of the child until later, other members of the family can come in to admire the baby, but must not touch it, whilst they await the arrival of one of the baby’s maternal uncles. The first maternal uncle to arrive then takes the baby and gives it to the mother and says, “Here is your first son” or “Here is your first daughter”. The new father then gives the new maternal uncle a cockerel and some grain millet, sorghum or maize. If the maternal uncles live some distance away then another member of the mother’s community needs to be found to present the baby to her; this person too will receive a cockerel and grain. The maternal uncles need to be informed of the arrival of subsequent children born to their sisters. Today, with an increasing number of births taking place in maternity units, m̄ bɛ̄nkimɛ is slowly dying out. The midwife’s first actions are to clean the baby and present it to the new mother, encouraging her to breast feed straight away. This then annuls m̄ bɛ̄nkimɛ as the mother has seen and handled the baby. The disappearance of m̄ bɛ̄nkimɛ seems to be accepted as the price for progress, as people recognise the benefits of having the baby at the maternity unit in case of complications. Generally, maternal uncles accept this too, as their primary concern is with the welfare of their niece or nephew-to- be and their sister. Despite the demise of m̄ bɛ̄nkimɛ, the new father still needs to send a cockerel and grain to his wife’s brothers with the news that they have a new niece or nephew as soon as possible after the birth. If he does not do this, the maternal uncles will think him negligent. To learn from someone else that their sister has had her child means that they are denied the chance to be amongst the first to welcome the child. As newly arrived strangers, babies need to know that both their families welcome them; otherwise their development could be effected.

7.2 Death, burial and celebration