Some of the restrictions for the first month, such as not leaving the house, might aggravate postpartum depression. Thankfully, my husband, who is also Asian-American, was very supportive and always offered me patience and a listening ear. Although our different cultures have rarely been much of an issue between us, it has been very interesting seeing the cultural differences, particularly with his parents, when we had children. At this year’s Oscars, Everything Everywhere All at Once is in the lead with eleven nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress.

MailOnline remarked “Some of the mothers look so similar to their daughters it is difficult to tell them apart and instead they look like sisters. Because I was finally having an honest conversation about motherhood—sharing traumatic birth stories, empathizing about the challenges of breastfeeding. Hopefully women of all backgrounds will realize it's not just a Western thing, or just a white thing, or just a ____ thing. Had I known that PPD symptoms included anger, among other things, then I might have been able to catch it sooner. A Memoir in Nine Adventures , Jane Wong’s Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City, and Delia Cai’s Central Places ; in film, there are rumblings of sequels to The Joy Luck Club and Crazy Rich Asians.Our Missing Hearts showed me the mom I need to be—necessarily political, fiercely truthful, fearless to act.

Frustrated, I started writing my own book about a dual-heritage girl who mysteriously starts having her Asian mother’s memories. While American Pie has made the idea of a MILF (you can look that term up if you don’t know it) a run-on joke since the 90’s, China seems to take this concept very seriously. Mirjam – I agree there needs to be more representation among all backgrounds for mental health issues, particularly PPD. I did struggle however with having someone else giving me very specific particular 'rules' for how to look after my baby at that time (no bright sunlight, no letting them cry even if its just while changing their nappy, no going outside for the first month, how to dress them, etc). Because all of us need to see our experiences reflected and to be reminded, once again, that we are enough.

I was grateful that I didn’t have to be alone with the baby, that I didn’t have to cook for myself, that she was always willing to rock the baby to sleep when I was too tired to do so anymore.

But to the outside world I was fine because I couldn’t let the emotions our, or show people that I was struggling. Mum dropped off the food every few days, told me what I couldn’t do, gave the baby a cuddle and left. Even though this was not my cultural norm, there were things about confinement that were definitely helpful, especially having someone else look after all the meals and cleaning! I hope that my story will enable other women, particularly Asian women who may feel a cultural stigma against mental illness, to recognize that their struggles are not just personal flaws that they should bury, and to find the courage to seek help. On the other hand, having live-in help definitely alleviated some of my anxiety because I had someone to talk to.Critics have swooned over the movie’s hot dog fingers, the butt plug fight scenes, the trippy zigzags through possible worlds, but stripped of its zaniness, the indie sleeper dominating the Oscars is essentially the story of an aging Asian American mom confronting her very real flaws to reach her daughter. The stories of four Asian American mother-daughter pairs marred by unspeakable trauma, struggling to express hope and love in translation, became a global phenomenon within the Asian community and beyond. For Asian women, did you participate in the one-month sitting period, and if so, how did that affect your postpartum recovery (both positively and negatively)? Although the loves sex, that part of her life has been put on hold preferring the nurturing of her college age son, Kenji, over the dating game.