Mother of all dilemmas

Zhang Fan is expecting her first child in May and it should be the happiest time of her life. Sadly, though, she has also had to cope with an inordinate amount of stress.

Both her parents-in-law and her own mother have offered to take care of her and her newborn baby but squeezing so many people into her small two-bedroom apartment in Beijing is clearly not an option.

Her dilemma is who to accept and who to risk offending. According to Chinese tradition, new mothers have to zuoyuezi, that is, rest at home for a whole month and avoid doing any housework. It is the mother-in-law's duty to cook, clean and look after the baby during that time. But this can often strain good relations between the two generations - or make bad ones worse.