According to traditional Chinese custom, women should be confined to home and assisted with tasks for 1 month after giving birth to a child. This restrictive regimen is referred to as doing-the-month. The objectives of this study were to describe adherence to doing-the-month practices and to explore the association between adherence to doing-the-month practices and physical symptoms and depression among postpartum women in Taiwan. Participants were 202 women at 4-6 weeks after delivery. Adherence to doing-the-month practices was associated with lower severity of physical symptoms and lower odds of postnatal depression, after adjustment for potential confounders. Adherence to doing-the-month practices was associated with better health status among postpartum women in Taiwan. (c) 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.