Breast-feeding practices among Thai women in Australia.

OBJECTIVE: to examine the perceptions and experience of breast-feeding practices among Thai women who are now living in Australia. DESIGN: ethnographic interviews and participant observation among Thai women in Australia. SETTING: Melbourne Metropolitan Area,Victoria, Australia. FINDINGS: Thai women see breast milk as the most valuable food for newborn babies and young children. Breast milk is seen as 'human milk', while infant formula is referred to as 'animal milk'. Breast feeding is seen as beneficial not only to babies' health, but also to the mother's health. Women consume certain foods such as drinking hot water and consuming hot soup during the confinement period as a way to ensure breast milk production. Women appear to know that 'breast is best', but some lack accurate knowledge about breast feeding. They also receive inaccurate information regarding feeding practices from health professionals. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: there is no doubt that Thai women see that 'breast is best', therefore, the main message for those involved in giving breast-feeding advice is to 'make it easy for women to do it'. Only then can health services and care be made more meaningful to the many women who have decided to breast feed their babies in their new country.

The experiences of postpartum hospital stay and returning home among Thai mothers in Australia.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the experience of postpartum care among Thai women in Melbourne, Australia. DESIGN: Ethnographic interviews and participant observation with women in relation to postpartum care and practices. SETTING: Melbourne Metropolitan Area, Victoria, Australia. PARTICIPANTS: 26 Thai born women who gave birth in Australia. FINDINGS: The Thai women had varying views about the length of time they should spend in hospital and the care they received. Ten of the twelve women who had had a caesarean birth stayed in hospital for six or more days, consistent with the hospital practice. However, most of those who had had a vaginal delivery opted to go home earlier than the standard hospital practice of four days stay. This was because they were unhappy about specific hospital practices, the hospital environment, or because there are several Thai confinement customs, which, traditionally, a new mother must observe in order to maintain good health and avoid future ill health and which they were not able to follow in hospital. Nevertheless, most women were satisfied with their postpartum care. Most women were aware of the Thai cultural beliefs and practices. However, they showed varying ways of coping with the hospital environment in relation to their varying social situations. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Thai women are diverse in their needs, perceptions and experience of postpartum care. Therefore, it is appropriate neither to stereotype all Thai women as requiring to follow traditional confinement practices nor to require them to adjust to standard hospital practices. Rather an environment of caring concern whereby each woman's individual needs can be solicited, understood and, where possible, attended to as required. The challenge is in achieving this.

Pregnancy and technology: Thai women's perceptions and experience of prenatal testing.

In this paper we discuss the perceptions and experience of prenatal testing among 30 Thai women in Australia. Ethnographic interviews and participant observation were used to elicit information in the study. The results show that most Thai women have positive attitudes toward prenatal testing, particularly that of ultrasound scan. Women see prenatal testing as a means for reassurance about the health and well-being of their foetus, to detect the sex of their foetus, and to create excitement about life in their uterus. However, there are also women who have negative attitudes toward or are ambivalent about prenatal testing. Despite some doubts about prenatal testing, women fell that it offers some answers about the well-being of their foetus and hence in the end they accept it as part of their pregnancy. We also discuss explanations for the acceptance of prenatal testing among Thai women.

Caesarean or vaginal birth: perceptions and experience of Thai women in Australian hospitals.

This paper discusses the perceptions and experience of immigrant Thai women who have had a Caesarean or vaginal birth. The ethnographic study showed that there was a considerably high number of emergency Caesarean births among Thai mothers. All women, except one, had prepared for a vaginal birth. However, most had to accept an emergency Caesarean and were told of the birth process just before the birth had taken place. Many women were, therefore, not well prepared for the birth. Most women preferred a vaginal birth over Caesarean birth. However, some believed that Caesarean was a safe method of birth because of the benefits of medical technology. This paper also examines some explanations for a high incidence of emergency Caesarean among Thai women in this study.

Child rearing and cultural beliefs and practices amongst Thai mothers in Victoria, Australia: implications for the sudden infant death syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the perceptions of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and to describe the role of cultural beliefs and practices on child rearing amongst Thai mothers in Victoria, Australia. METHODOLOGY: In-depth interviews and participant observation conducted with 30 Thai mothers during 1995-96. RESULTS: SIDS was not known amongst these Thai mothers prior to migration to Australia. However, they were aware of SIDS when they gave birth here and all of them expressed fear about their baby's death. Due to this fear, most mothers tended to follow Thai beliefs and practices strictly to prevent death. These included breast-feeding, not leaving the infant alone at nighttime, placing the infant on the side or back to sleep, and bedsharing. It is considered that there are numerous evil spirits who may harm the infant, but some are benevolent and protect the newborn, such as ancestral spirits and the guardian angel of a child. Several Thai rituals are carried out to protect the newborn from ill health and death, including inviting the soul of the infant to reside in his or her body, and ritual clipping and shaving the hair of the newborn within the first month of life. CONCLUSIONS: Cultural beliefs, rituals and child-rearing practices help Thai parents to overcome their fear of SIDS. Hypotheses derived from Asian parents' child rearing practices may be useful in further SIDS research.

The experience of pregnancy, labour and birth of Thai women in Australia.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the perceptions and experience of pregnancy care, labour and birth of Thai women in Melbourne, Australia. DESIGN: An ethnographic interview and participant observation with women in relation to pregnancy, labour and birth. SETTING: Melbourne Metropolitan Area, Victoria, Australia. PARTICIPANTS: 30 Thai women who are now living in Melbourne. FINDINGS: Thai women saw antenatal care as an important aspect of their pregnancy and sought care as soon as they suspected they were pregnant. They were more concerned about the well-being of their babies than their own health, therefore they attended all antenatal appointments. In general, these women were satisfied with care during labour, but some also had negative experiences with their caregivers and hospital routine. When asked to compare maternity services between Thailand and Australia, most of the women believed that services in Australia were better. However, women who had had good experiences of childbirth in Thailand, tended to have negative feelings about the Australian experience. There was also evidence in this study that most of these Thai women did not receive adequate information about care. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Women's perceptions and experiences of antenatal care, labour and birth deserve attention, if appropriate and sensitive care is to be provided to women in Australia and elsewhere. It is only when women's voices are heard in all aspects of health-care delivery that we may see better and appropriate health services for women in childbirth.