ABSTRACT
‘When a Santal woman is with child’ Duli Murmu said, ‘her flowers stop. During this time, she is subject to strange cravings. She will want to eat meat and fish, or puffed rice and laddu - a form of sweet. She may also crave for soil from an ant-hill and for the special kind of earth with which Santals wash their hair. She can continue to assist her husband at sacrifices and can go to all the festivals. Provided these warnings are heeded, a birth is rarely attended with any difficulty. The mother lies on a cot, a midwife is called and after delivery, the umbilical cord is cut with an arrow and the placenta is buried. If the birth occurs on the eve of a wedding or a festival or even after they have started, emergency action must be taken. If the child is born the day before a new moon, this also involves immediate action.
