網誌分類：未分類 |
重要
網誌日期：2008-05-10 22:35
Maggie Liu and her newborn son Marvin. Ms Liu rejected the Chinese custom of avoiding showering for a month after giving birth, but happily devoured her mother's chicken soup.
Photo: Rebecca Hallas
Deborah Gough A DROP of honey or weak tea on the tongue of a new baby will do no harm, so the midwives let it go. Occasionally, when custom collides with medical convention, they intervene. When a grandmother tries to push down on a mother's belly to help the baby out, midwife Maxine Reid will gently insist, "all in good time". Giving birth may have become clinical, but it is always deeply cultural. Melbourne's public hospitals have had to adapt more than most; while slightly more than 22% of mothers in Australia are overseas-born, at the Royal Women's it's more than 46%. At the Mercy it's 32%. That's 165 countries, 60 languages and 42 religious faiths. For hospital staff, there is no expert to consult on how different countries and religions bring babies into the world. "Most of what I've learnt is from the women themselves — there are no textbooks or classes you can really go to," Ms Reid says. Different cultural beliefs can lead to misunderstandings. The modern Western idea is that newborns are placed onto the chest of the mother almost immediately to create a bond and encourage breastfeeding. But some of Melbourne's newest immigrants from Africa think of a bloody newborn as unclean. "The woman says: 'No, take it away from me," said Zeinab Mohamud, a worker with the family and reproductive rights education program at the Royal Women's Hospital, a support service for African and other migrant women. "The midwives have come to us and they think that the (African) men force their wives to have babies, because they are not that keen to have the babies when they come out. They are just as bonded to their babies but at that time, they are in pain." For many, even the idea of a hospital birth is novel. Kazina Rashid, 21, of Flemington, came to Australia from Ethiopia two years ago with her husband and is the first in her family to give birth in hospital — previous generations had their children at home. Ethiopia is one of the 10 countries with the worst conditions for childbirth and postnatal care, according to a Save the Children index. "Nobody has a baby in a hospital in Ethiopia; it is expensive and not safe," Ms Rashid says through an interpreter. Other traditions stay. Her mother-in-law was at the birth of baby Yusef a fortnight ago, and afterwards brought her traditional foods — sweet fufu, a barley-based porridge laced with beetroot, sultanas and dates and a red meat, fish and vegetable dish to give strength after labour and pregnancy. Ms Mohamud and her colleague at the education program, Medina Idriess, ensure African women can get porridge, a traditional post-childbirth meal, as well as halal meals instead of toast and cereal. Women give up some things when they settle in Australia, and hang onto others. ANZ personal banker Maggie Liu, born in China, rejected the custom to avoid showering for 30 days after birth, which is common in China and Vietnam. "The Chinese believe that you are not supposed to touch water if possible for the first month, but that is hard and I wanted to take a shower," Ms Liu says. But she devoured the aromatic chicken soup brought to her by her mother Mary Zhang in hospital. Mercy Hospital Chinese interpreter Karen Ho said that, traditionally, the Chinese believed in food helping to balance the body to equilibrium. It means eating yin foods, or cold foods, such as vegetables and fruits, during pregnancy to cool the body and yang foods, or hot foods, such as meats, chicken and wine after the baby is born to keep the mother warm and give her strength. "After birth they tend to adhere to the tradition where they don't want to have cold water, they ask for warm water, (and) they don't eat ice-cream because it is cold," she says. Women screaming during labour is common, but Vietnam-born Hanh Bui was almost silent when she gave birth to a baby girl last week at Sunshine Hospital. Midwife Karina Ireland says silent labours are common for mothers in her ethnic group. "It is because of the way they view birth as something normal and they don't have the fear — that's the way they deal with it." Australian midwives have strong views that are rejected by some women. Midwives encourage breastfeeding, but most African cultures believe that babies need formula, and that they go hungry if breastfed in the early days. Some also believed in alternating every third feed with water to prevent colic. "We like chubby babies after they are born; it is a sign of a good mother," Ms Mohamud says. Midwives provide breastfeeding information and show women a cotton ball to explain the size of the baby's stomach and how little food is needed, but in the end it is the mother's choice. The Royal Women's deals with high-risk pregnancies, and this can lead to heartbreak. They offer small coffins with a hole for the spirit to escape in accordance with some Buddhist beliefs, and ensure that babies born to Muslim parents face Mecca when they are buried. When a healthy baby is born, there is joy and offerings. Anyone who visits Paula Boudoloh and six-day-old Natalia is offered sticky Lebanese sweets. "You have to have one, you can't say no. It is bad luck for the baby," she insists. Six women were inside the delivery room with Paula on Tuesday — her father and brother were outside. It is the tradition of the women of Kfarhabou, near Tripoli, in northern Lebanon, for women to surround the labouring mother. "She had the entire village at her birth," grandmother Lina Boudoloh says of her daughter. The Royal Women's Hospital Mother's Day Appeal runs for the month of May. Donations can be made at thewomens .org.au/MothersDay or on 1300 788 749. >_@
May 11, 2008
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