Life style : Birth

           In the past Hmong believed that a pregnancy was an act of the will of the Mother's and Father's ghost. Hmong women are careful to make sure that as they approach the final stages of their pregnancy they don't go anywhere alone. Wherever a pregnant woman goes she has to have at least one friend go with her. Delivery is done naturally, with the woman in labor sitting on top of a small stool in front of the bedroom. The woman will lean against her husband for support and the door of the house will be closed. Children are prohibited from entering the house during this time.
After the baby has been delivered, it will be cleaned up and the umbilical cord cut with scissors. If the baby is a boy, the afterbirth will be buried at the central pillar of the house, which is where, it is believed, a spirit resides. This is because boys should understand about ghosts and spirits. If the baby is a girl, the afterbirth will be buried under the mother's cot, because girls should understand the value of chastity and understand the affairs of running a household.
Three days after a new child is born the father will conduct a ceremony to give a name to the child. Two chickens will be offered as a sacrifice to please the spirits of the ancient ancestors and to thank the spirits of the mother and father for sending the child to be born. The spirits will be asked to watch over and protect the child and to accept the child as a member of the family lineage.
As the Hmong believe that a child does not yet become human until it is a full three days old, a baby that dies during this period can be buried immediately, without having to perform the various customary ceremonies. It is believed the newborn is still the child of ghosts.
Nowadays it is mostly the middle-aged and elderly Hmong who still hold these beliefs. Educated Hmong will tend not to retain these beliefs, but their children will still go through all the prescribed ceremonies of a Hmong. Deliveries are now mostly done at the hospital as it is feared that danger may arise to the woman if a natural birth is attempted at home.
http://hmong.hilltribe.org