Most Amish women choose to give birth at home or with a midwife, but they do not have to wait until a medical doctor has advised them to go to the hospital. Depending on the community, an Amish family's average of 6-9 children is thought to be conservative.
After giving birth, Amish mothers breastfeed their babies for as long as possible.
In the Amish community, things like pregnancy are very sacred and secret. People's privacy is important, and intimate details are often not shared with other members of the community until it is more than obvious.
Starting a Family
Amish typically marry in their early- to mid-20s. The new family typically begins adding new members soon after. Amish do not sanction birth control (though it likely is practiced in some form in some families), which means large families.
Amish men outlive Amish women, in part because of the high birth rate (average of 7 live births/woman). Birth control and abortion are forbidden by religious doctrine, even when pregnancy is life threatening.
All types of birth control, and also all forms of natural family planning such as calendar-based methods, are forbidden in Old-Order Amish communities. However, especially in recent years, more Amish women have begun using contraception.
According to the Schwartzentruber Amish Ordinance Letter, Amish women are not permitted to shave their legs or underarms. Amish ordinances also forbid women from cutting their hair.
Amish men and women usually assume traditional and well-defined gender roles. Husbands carry the primary responsibility for the financial well-being of the family. Wives typically devote themselves to housekeeping and motherhood.
The Amish have various hygiene practices, just like regular Americans. They take showers, although the frequency may vary among different Amish orders. Conservative Amish don't use deodorant, talc, or lotion. They simply wash, dry, and put on clean clothing.
Marriage in the Amish community is seen as a passage into adulthood. To get married in the Amish community, members must be baptized in the church. Outsiders, non-Amish, or 'English', as they call the rest of the world, are not permitted to marry within the Amish community.
Amish women are expected to cook, clean, and care for the children. They also often help with farm work. While some Amish women do work outside the home, it is usually in a job that is related to the home, such as being a midwife or a teacher. The Amish believe it's important for women to be involved in the community.
“Amish women consider infertility as God's will” Johnson-Weiner said. However, members of the community respond by encouraging these women to “Submit to God's will and do your best to follow God's plan” even allowing these women in some communities to adopt children.
Amish parents consider their children their greatest earthly treasure. Children are welcomed as a blessing from God and large families are the norm.
Some people find breastfeeding their partner a wonderful benefit of breastfeeding, while others find the idea unappealing. There's no right or wrong, just what's right for you. If you and your partner are intrigued, free to try out adult breastfeeding.
Mothers are very demonstrative with their babies when they nurse them and sing to them as they soothe them to sleep. But they don't pick up their children to hug and kiss them.
Both girl and boy dolls are common; Amish children do not have a lot of toys, so both boys and girls play with the dolls.
However, in addition to the modesty aspect, women must keep their heads covered at all times so that they can pray at any time. Both modesty and prayer are central to the daily lives of Amish people and for women, wearing head coverings and bonnets is an important part of that.
They typically sleep for seven to eight hours each night. The Amish bedroom is simple. The furniture is typically made of wood, and the beds are usually bunk beds. The mattresses are filled with straw or feathers, and the bedding is typically made of wool.
#2: Amish wear their beards in adherence to God's word
From the book of Leviticus 19:27, the Bible says, “Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard” and the Amish interpret this literally. They believe they have been commanded to wear a beard in manhood by God.
I think the level of integration with the modern world varies community to community (some Amish communities are more insular than others) but the most conservative of them will probably use the same methods women used for hundreds of years — wrapping themselves with strips of material, or wrapping their shift/ ...
What happens if an Amish husband dies? Remarriage After the Death of a Spouse Widows and widowers may enter a courtship and remarry, and many Amish people do after losing a loved one. Because the Amish have large families, remarriage results in large extended families.
The Amish believe that technology, especially cell phones, separates people and takes away important face-to-face communication and social interaction. In more lenient communities, cell phones may be used by families in a central location, with no particular owner, to keep in touch with family.
According to Amish America, the primary reason why many Amish have their teeth removed and replaced by dentures early on in adulthood is because of the long-term cost of visiting the dentist. These visits would occur because, as a whole, Amish may have more risks relating to their dental health.
Amish women don't display their hair for Biblically-based reasons . They also do not cut their hair, pinning it all up underneath a kapp, or prayer covering. The Biblical Commandment. The Amish and Mennonites believe that it is a Biblical command for women to cover their heads when they pray.
While the Amish do not take pictures of themselves, they do use mirrors. The use of a mirror is allowed because unlike a picture, it is not a graven image. Women use mirrors to do their hair and men use mirrors to shave. If you take our guided farmhouse tour, you'll spot a few mirrors in the house.