Midwifery
Volume 25, Issue 2, 2009, Pages 104-113

Antenatal taboos among Chinese women in Hong Kong (Article)

Lee D.T.S.* , Ngai I.S.L. , Ng M.M.T. , Lok I.H. , Yip A.S.K. , Chung T.K.H.
  • a School of Public Health, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong, Hong Kong
  • b School of Public Health, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Department of Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, 641 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, United States
  • c School of Public Health, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Department of Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, 641 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, United States
  • d Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, Hong Kong
  • e Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, Hong Kong
  • f Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Abstract

Objective: to identify the antenatal taboos commonly practised by pregnant Hong Kong Chinese women; to explore the health beliefs behind these taboos; and to examine how pregnant women perceived and reacted to the cultural tradition. Design: general ethnography and in-depth interviews, followed by a quantitative self-reported survey. Setting: Antenatal clinic of a university-affiliated hospital in Hong Kong. Participants: consecutive samples of 60 women for in-depth interviews, and 832 women for the survey. Measurements: an inventory on the adherence and attitude towards antenatal taboos, and the Beck Depression Inventory that measures severity of depression. Findings: antenatal taboos were still commonly observed by contemporary Chinese women. Miscarriage, fetus malformation and fetal ill-health were the key cultural fears that drove contemporary Chinese women to observe the traditional taboos. About one-quarter and one-tenth of the women, respectively, felt unhappy and disputed with their families about the taboos. These women had significantly higher levels of depression in late pregnancy and during childbirth. Implications for practice: health-care practitioners should be aware of the benefits and risks of traditional antenatal taboos on maternal health. Although some taboos can be socio-morally protective, the tension created by the observation of cultural tradition in modernity may impair maternal psychological well-being. Health-care providers in Western countries should be vigilant of the complex cultural tension faced by migrant Chinese mothers. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Author Keywords

Perinatal depression Antenatal care Pregnancy Cultural practice

Index Keywords

perception China birth prenatal care psychological aspect methodology human statistics Labor, Obstetric Maternal Behavior Adaptation, Psychological ethnology nurse attitude Nurse's Role Young Adult Humans female adaptive behavior questionnaire pregnancy Mothers Article Family Relations Questionnaires mother adult family relation Hong Kong Social Perception Parturition Nurse-Patient Relations nurse patient relationship Fear taboo attitude to health labor
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-61749099482&doi=10.1016%2fj.midw.2007.01.008&partnerID=40&md5=1041711bf4b7d82d032c48687dc52c6e
DOI: 10.1016/j.midw.2007.01.008
ISSN: 02666138
Cited by: 48
Original Language: English