i was told, bsheym Rav Yaakov Kamenetzky zatzal, that the source for lighting one candle per child is that it used to be that after childbirth every mother was in the hospital for a minmiumum 10 days. Hence they always missed a Friday night candle lighting.
Two questions:
1. Did R’ Ya’akov hold that if a woman missed candle lighting completely b’ones that she has to light an additional candle — even if the husband lit for her at home?
2. Wouldn’t a minimum 10-day stay in the hospital (health workers — was that really true for routine childbirths??), shouldn’t at least some women have to light TWO additional candles (since they’d be in the hospital for two consecutive Friday nights)?
The Wolf