These are just a few of the unique ways that different cultures approach having a baby.
Let’s take a look.
If your baby were born in Bali, they’d discourage your baby from touching the ground for three months. Poverty is a huge concern there as well, and work is being done to make sure the diets of pregnant women are adequate.
In the Netherlands, you’d see a midwife, not a doctor, you would not likely have an epidural, and a traditional snack after birth is “biscuits with mice” (the mice being licorice bits). The majority of women give birth at home.
In Japan, most babies are born in a hospital, most mamas give birth without pain medicine, and fathers are in the delivery room only if they took classes. I thought this was interesting that the fathers are prepared on how to help mom in labor and delivery, or they aren’t part of the birth. Also an emphasis is placed on how the mom thinks during pregnancy—so be positive.
Soon after a birth in Guatemala, the mother drinks hot chocolate and eats sweet bread. She does not get out of bed for 24 hours. The only fluids she takes are hot chocolate, hot water and chamomile tea.
Previously in Germany, there were lists of “acceptable names.” If you wanted to name a baby anything too unusual you would have to explain why. This is in contrast to a magazine I noticed recently, with unique baby names of celebrities such as Apple, Audio, Bear, or Casimo.
If you lived in Brazil and are pregnant, you would be treated like a princess. You would most likely plan on a C-section as most mothers deliver this way in Brazil.
In Turkey mothers are very concerned about cold, even going as far as bundling babies in the summer. Also women should avoid walking barefoot to avoid infertility or miscarriage, and the umbilical cord is to be buried somewhere where it will influence child’s life. For example, if they want the child to be a doctor, they would bury it outside a hospital. They stay home for the first 20 days of the baby’s life.
A pregnant Mexican woman should avoid all contact with anything death-related. She is forbidden from attending funerals or burials and from visiting cemeteries while pregnant.
In England, mostly midwives are used (have you heard of the book and TV series, Call the Midwife?) Even Princess Kate had a midwife for the birth of the royal prince and princess. England also has TENS units to help with pain (as we do at Spectrum Health Gerber Memorial) and nitrous oxide. I know US hospitals are looking into having nitrous oxide available for labor.
As you can see, there is much variation worldwide surrounding birth. I picked up on a common theme of natural birth, and making sure mom has plenty of rest after baby.
What did you notice? Please feel free to add your comments below.
Thank you so much for your enlightening and enjoyable piece. I work in the field of early childhood and it is important that we learn about and embrace diverse cultural practices.
As I have great concerns about the use of epidurals in hospitals, I appreciate the cross-cultural emphasis on natural child birth.
Thank you Dr. Verwys. It was interesting to research other cultures and see how they view birth. I also appreciate the views on natural childbirth and hope it encourages women to know it’s possible and do-able.
Thank you for your comment!
I read an article recently about the negative health impacts of ‘lying-in’ for too long. Health workers in China were looking for ways to get women moving sooner after birth, which went against the traditional practice.
I enjoy learning about the culture of food during pregnancy. I had a Panamanian professor in college talk about how they say eating okra helps the baby ‘slide out’! My son’s father is Puerto Rican and his family was constantly feeding me because they believed that if you deny food to a pregnant woman, you’ll get pink eye!
It’s interesting to see the differences of birth practices around the world. Thanks for linking up at the Bloggers Brags party, I pinned your post to our group board.
Thanks for pinning the post, Aliza! If you haven’t already, you might want to subscribe to get some of the best Health Beat articles delivered to your email inbox – it’s fast, free and you choose what you’d like to see. You can subscribe here: spectrumhealthbeat.org/subscribe Cheers!
I had a homebirth here in California. It is actually gaining momentum and popularity as women are beginning to feel dissatisfied with the prenatal care at hospitals, where they feel like a number instead of a unique case. These were very interesting facts about other country’s. Thanks for sharing!
Most interesting! Looking at cultural differences in all aspects helps us to understand people. Rather than putting on blinders to differences, learning those differences should unite us. I would hope so.
Caring through Christ, ~ linda
Those are some very interesting customs from around the world. I wonder why and how some of them started (biscuits and licorice mice????)
Thank you for linking up at the #HomeMattersParty this week!