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CULTURE & PREGNANCY.
Term Paper ID:23771
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Essay Subject:
Examines role of cultural beliefs & practices in health care for pregnant & birthing women around the world, focusing on Asians.... More...
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6 Pages / 1350 Words
8 sources, 10 Citations,
APA Format
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Paper Abstract:
Examines role of cultural beliefs & practices in health care for pregnant & birthing women around the world, focusing on Asians.
Paper Introduction:
HEALTH-CULTURE BELIEFS
Introduction
An understanding of health-culture beliefs begins with that of the United States. Within a technological society, health-culture beliefs regarding childbirth are explored. Obstetrical revolutions occur in a cultural environment and are charged with changing values and practices. Practices include prenatal, parturition, and postpartum values, beliefs, and customs and how these customs act as possible barriers to delivery care offered by health professionals such as nurses (Hahn, 1987).
United States Health-Culture Beliefs
To a society like that of the United States, which is technological in nature, the process of childbirth continually questions boundaries between the American culture and nature.
Text of the Paper:
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United States Health-Culture Beliefs To a society like that of the United States, which is technologicalin nature, the process of childbirth continually questions boundariesbetween the American culture and nature. Women using midwives were morelikely to be non-White, younger, less educated, and unmarried. (1987). Views regarding postnatalexperiences include the need to rest and recover after childbirth; help isreceived by other women. This support involves financial andpractical assistance as well as social and emotional help. Fearsregarding the safety of mother and child are alleviated with medical andhospital care regardless of cultural tendencies. (1991). A practice in northern France includes the father and the motherretiring to bed after the birth and death of the child. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 68, 65-84.----------------------- 8 (1989). (1988). Asian women view pregnancy and childbirth events as within thewomen's sphere of activity, with a less positive view of medical managementsince it involves contact with people, particularly male doctors, who arenot family members. For example, more than one culture tends toaccept care from a familiar person, this concept can be applicablytransferred into personalized assistance rather than traditional,mechanical methods. Cross-cultural comparison of the social support system after childbirth. She can expect her husband's support, but when he is atwork, she is to cope on her own. This canresult in problematic health care, particularly regarding safe and cleandeliveries. The term jidda literally means grandmother and it is often thegrandmother who does assist at the delivery. Those with a low childbirthknowledge, however, needed more health counseling and were similar tomothers in other countries who do not use these services. Postpartum Values Women not only need support during childbirth, but also during theweeks and months that follow. Man is seen as able to discover, understand, and intervene withthe laws by which events proceed. HEALTH-CULTURE BELIEFS Introduction An understanding of health-culture beliefs begins with that of theUnited States. D. The Finnish family competence study: characteristics of pregnant women with low childbirth knowledge. Social Science Medicine, 33(8), 959-962.Woollett, A., Dosanjh, N., Nicolson, P., Marshall, H., Djhanbakhch, O. The role of obstetrical rituals in the resolution of cultural anomaly. A lack ofrespect for individual differences may result in diminished cooperationamong women of dissimilar cultures. J. (1994). Household chores andinfant care are taken over by relatives. Americans peruse control overbirth. (1994). An extreme example includes that of the Chiriguanoa Indiansof Paraguay, the father and children lie-in and fast at the birth of a newchild. Personalized care would include: tendencies for dietpreferences during pregnancies, for example the search for adequate coolfoods for the Asian woman; individual needs during childbirth regardingfathers present, etc.; and aftercare selections to consider culturalbeliefs in rest, or the immediate return to independence. It wasfound that a familiar nurse and physician or free services near home,increased the acceptability and use of maternity health care for thesewomen. Korean societytreats the mother as if she is recovering from a serious illness, she isexpected to rest completely, in bed, for three weeks. First-time mothers, Asian and non-Asian, reportmore food preferences, more complicated deliveries, more accompaniment byhusbands or partners, longer hospital stays, receiving more education onpostnatal wards, and more birth celebrations. Park andDimigen (1994) compare social support systems in Korea (extended familysystem) with that of Scotland (nuclear family system) after childbirth.Social support has been defined as including socializing, emotionalreassurance, practical help, social reinforcement, guidance, physicalcomfort, appreciation, giving care, and giving advice. Prenatal Values Rautava (1989) studied the characteristics of pregnant women inFinland. Scheepers (1991) reports on childbirth in Yemen. REFERENCESBroude, G. Findings regarding the study of women fromethnic minority communities conclude that experiences are influenced byage, parity and social situation, and values regarding diversity andvariability in experience. Parturition Values In the United States, midwife-attended births is increasing (15 , in 1989 from 6 , a decade earlier). Birth Customs as Barriers to Care Research explores the adjustments that women and men make whilebecoming parents and the ways they are influenced by medical management ofpregnancy and childbirth. The network size,quantity and quality of support differs between cultures. Therefore it is concluded that careneeds to be individually directed, reflecting each persons beliefs andvalues (Woollett et al., 1995). Cultural preferences for physicians ormidwives may contribute to outcomes. A. Medical Anthropology Quarterly, 1(3), 256-282.Park, E., & Dimigen, G. Acceptance of midwives is moreexpanded among White than Black mothers. These customsare embedded in a larger culture which affect members of the family or eventhe community. Ethnic differences in midwife-attended US births.American Journal of Public Health, 84(7), 1139-1141.Rautava, P. Rethinking the Couvade: cross-cultural evidence.American Anthropologist, 9 , 9 2-911.Davis-Floyd, R. Since natural childbirth can be seen asa threat, birth is removed from everyday life and walled off in hospitals.The performance of obstetrical rituals allow the obstetrician to begin totake control with the predictable pattern of mechanical processes. Dietaryrestrictions are observed in some cultures. Culturalpractices and beliefs result in factors underlying these findings(Woollett, Dosanjh, Nicolson, Marshall, Djhanbakhch, & Hadlow, 1995). (1995). Training needs tofocus not on one or two people; less sophisticated training needs to bedirected to all women with some experience in conducting deliveries. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 25(3), 345-352.Parker, J. Although Asian women's viewstend to conflict with hospital and medical practice, they do not take anegative approach to Western medicine. E. Relatives and friends visit but do nothelp. It does appear however,that optimal health care would be achieved with regard for culturaldifferences and practices. The American birthing system therefore has meaning and a purposewithin its cultural context (Davis-Floyd, 199 ). The American culture views man as superior tonature. Asian womenwere as likely as non-Asian to report fathers present during birth.Initial contact with babies did not include the task of developing arelationship with the child; this is viewed as emerging gradually withinthe context of the wider family. Regardless of these views, more and more Asian womenaccept Western health care and are willing to attend clinics. Contrary to thatwhich is assumed, birth attendants do not appear to be women withspecialized knowledge and experience of assistance at deliveries. Social Science Medicine, 31(2), 175- 189.Hahn, R. Dietarypractices based on the Ayurvedic system of medicine view pregnancy as a hotstate and advise women to eat cool foods. These behaviors range from the father taking to his bed,to the eating or hunting of certain foods or animals, etc. Health carers need to provide care that isappropriate to the needs of the parents; women who are viewed asproblematic need to be encouraged to attend antenatal clinics regularly.Asian women are considered at risk since they tend to give birth at ayounger age and to give birth to more children; lower birth weights andhigher perinatal mortality rates also exist amongst Asian babies. This view is different from hospitals whichencourage mothers to take responsibility for themselves and their infantson the postnatal wards (Woollett et al., 1995). M. The Scottish mother is treated asa normal, healthy person, somewhat exhausted, but not one requiringintensive care. Social Science Medicine, 29,(9), 11 5-11 9.Scheepers, L. These women had many friends in theneighborhood which may explain their lack of need for outside help. Within a technological society, health-culture beliefsregarding childbirth are explored. Conclusions Within the context of a technological society, the United Statesappears to provide health care that is accepted by minority groups. Asian women report not cooking and notgoing out for some time after returning home due to cultural and religiousideas. Women were prepared to leave decisions to hospital staff.Asian women were less likely to be induced than non-Asian. Theserituals may result in traumatizing or empowering the birthing women,however they usually provide a sense of certainty that their babies will beborn and neither they or their babies will die. Medical rituals thenfulfill the universal social need for symbolic enculturation of the new-born. Divisions of labor: obstetrician, woman, and society in Williams Obstetrics, 19 3-1985. These views exclude many foodsthat are recommended to pregnant women and need to be taken into account atantenatal clinics who advise Asian women. Jidda: The traditional midwife of Yemen? (199 ). Yemen women receivechildbirth assistance from within a network of neighbors and related women. Mothers with lowknowledge tended to be unemployed, younger, living near or with parents,and less educated. They felt no need for health services, smoked more, hadless physical exercise, ate less vegetables and more fatty foods, used moredrugs, had fewer leisure activities, read fewer books and used fewercultural services; they reported feeling closer to their own mothers thandid those with high birth knowledge. Beliefs & Customs Couvade is a term used to refer to customs applying to the behaviorof fathers during pregnancies, childbirth, and shortly after the births oftheir children. Results demonstrate that practically all pregnant women inFinland use maternity health care services. Asian women are more likely to mark the birth of a child with aceremony or celebration. Obstetrical procedures such as electronic fetal monitoring,episiotomies, the lithotomy position, and the Cesarean section can beviewed as resulting responses to this control versus nature, which will notbe controlled, conflict. In this area, it is important to realize that assistance is provided byanyone who is available and not afraid to cut the cord. Asian women report labors and deliveries similar to those of non-Asian women. & Hadlow, J. Obstetrical revolutions occur in acultural environment and are charged with changing values and practices.Practices include prenatal, parturition, and postpartum values, beliefs,and customs and how these customs act as possible barriers to delivery careoffered by health professionals such as nurses (Hahn, 1987). Parker(1994) reports on the ethnic differences associated with midwifery care.Native American mothers were the most likely and White mothers were theleast likely to use a midwife. Father-absence is also found(Broude, 1988). The ideas and experiences of pregnancy and childbirth of Asian and non-Asian women in East London.
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