Giving Birth in a New Home: Childbirth Traditions and the Experience of Motherhood among Hmong Women from Laos
Author(s):
Rice, Pranee Liamputtong
Format:
Journal article
Citation:
Asian Studies Review, Volume 20, Issue 3 (1997-04). pp. 133-148.
Language:
English
Abstract:
Childbirth traditions & motherhood among Laotian Hmong immigrant women living in Australia are explored via ethnographic observations & interviews with 27 women in Melbourne. It is shown that most of the Hmong women continue to adhere to many of their traditional health practices & methods, even though they have been modified to fit the Australian living situation. Traditional healing remedies offer the only social & emotional support for these women in a situation in which everything else is foreign. It is suggested that if equitable participation in social policies is a goal of the new Australian multicultural policy, then a knowledge of existing patterns of beliefs & practices among Asian mothers should be of prime concern in the establishment of health programs for them. D. M. Smith