Mother / Child / Infant Care
Includes breastfeeding, perinatal, peripartum, and infant care issues.
Peripartum/Perinatal Care
Information about issues around childbirth for both mother and baby.
- Cambodian Postpartum Practices
- Article about postpartum traditions in Cambodian culture.
- Perinatal Profile for Patients from Somalia
- Information to help providers become familiar with the cultural values and historical experiences of women from Somalia and their families, as it pertains to obstetrical outcomes and providing culturally appropriate care.
- Peripartum and Infant Care Issues and Practices among Refugee Groups in Seattle
- Some traditional practices around pregnancy and infant care in Southeast Asian and East African groups in Seattle.
- Post-partum Practices among Vietnamese and Chinese Patients brochure
- A 2 page brochure format about the post-partum practice of a "sitting month" among Vietnamese and Chinese patients.
- Postpartum Practices among Chinese and Vietnamese Women poster
- A 1 page poster, PDF, about a research project on the traditional practice of "sitting month".
- Cambodian Perinatal Culture-Bound Syndromes: Providing Care to Cambodian Women with Toas
- Information about postpartum period sor sai kchey, which alludes to a period of fragile health lasting from one to three months after childbirth during which many traditional postpartum practices are followed. There are strong beliefs about the importance of adhering to these practices and that failure to do so may lead to chronic symptoms called toas that can be temporary or lifelong.
Breastfeeding Clinical Topics
Information for providers about breastfeeding and related topics, especially as related to culture.
- Breast Feeding Support for Somali Mothers - PDF
- A powerpoint slide show saved as PDF (22 slides), produced by practitioners at Harborview Medical Center/University of Washington, 2007; about infant overfeeding in immigrant families, with focus on Somali families. Considers factors leading to overfeeding, guidance for prenatal and postpartum education, and information about Somali cultural experience.
- Cultural Influences on Infant Feeding Practices
- Link to Journal article from Pediatrics in Review (Authors: Pak-Gorstein, Haq, Graham), used with permission.
- Failure to Thrive and Oral Aversion in Immigrant Infants and Toddlers
- Summary report of a quality improvement project carried out to determine if there were common patterns found in the history and presentation of non-organic failure to thrive among Somali infants and if underlying cultural factors might be influencing this condition.
- “My baby refuses to eat!”: Overfeeding of Somali Infants
- Article describing a pattern of overfeeding Somali infants leading to conditions such as refusal to eat, oral aversion, failure to thrive; includes recommendations for clinically effective intervention and prevention.
- Oromo Immigrants and Breast Feeding Information for American Health Care Providers
- Information about Oromo practices and beliefs about breastfeeding.
- Somali Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Study: Infant and Young Child Feeding and Health Seeking Practices
- PDF (102 pages) Report of a study conducted to enhance understanding of the contribution of poor child care practices to malnutrition (both acute and chronic) and subsequently to provide key recommendations for simple and effective responses.
- Breastfeeding in Ramadhan
- Information about how to maintain a good milk supply while fasting during Ramadhan.
Pediatric Clinical Pearls
Brief clinically relevant articles on culture and health issues for infants, children or childbirth.
- Clinical Pearl: Infant Sleep Position in Immigrant Ethnic Groups
- A short clinical pearl about the positions in which infants from different ethnic groups are placed to sleep.
- Clinical Pearl: Uvulectomy
- A short clinical pearl on a tradition surgery, uvulectomy, performed in some African and middle eastern countries.
Journal Articles
- Cultural Influences on Infant Feeding Practices
- Link to Journal article from Pediatrics in Review (Authors: Pak-Gorstein, Haq, Graham), used with permission.
- Delayed Bottle Weaning and Iron Deficiency in Southeast Asian Toddlers
- Article reprinted with permission from Western Journal of Medicine. By Elinor A. Graham, MD, MPH, et al. West J Med, July 1997; 167:10-14.
