Inside a Postpartum Nursing Center: Tradition and Change.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to explore how traditional ritual practices are incorporated into the context of contemporary healthcare. METHODS: An ethnographic study was conducted, using observations and interviews with 27 first-time mothers and 3 nurses at a postpartum nursing center in Taipei, Taiwan. RESULTS: Nursing routines, policies and care provision at the center affected the way traditional ritual practices were conducted. New mothers in this study constructed their everyday activities at the center by incorporating and modifying the ritual practices inside and outside the postpartum nursing center setting. CONCLUSIONS: Social changes have an influence on traditional postpartum ritual practices so a postpartum nursing center becomes a choice for postpartum women. Thus, health care professionals should value their own functions and roles at the postpartum nursing center since the new mothers regard them as the primary support resource to help them recover from giving birth. Therefore, they need to re-examine their practices from the postpartum women's perspective to provide better support and sensitive care to postpartum women and their families.

Doing the month in a Taiwanese postpartum nursing center: an ethnographic study.

Traditionally Chinese and Taiwanese postpartum women conducted postpartum ritual practices, called "doing the month," at home. Today, many Taiwanese women undertake this ritual in postpartum nursing centers. However, little is known about how the traditional practices are being transformed in relation to contemporary health care in Taiwan. In this ethnographic study observations were carried out in a large post-partum center attached to a major hospital in Taipei for nine months, and 27 postpartum women were interviewed. Data were analyzed using ethnographic approaches to extract codes and categories. Doing the month was reshaped by being relocated from the home to a healthcare setting. Midwives took on roles traditionally taken by family members, which had an impact on family roles and relationships. Some postpartum practices were maintained, based on traditional explanations. However, many were modified or challenged, based on explanations from contemporary scientific knowledge. Midwives need to be aware that there could be differences between their culture of care and the cultural values of the women they care for. This study informs culturally appropriate postpartum care and support for women with traditional and contemporary cultural beliefs and attitudes to doing the month in a range of healthcare contexts.

Outcome evaluation of a multi-disciplinary community-based continence service for Australian women.

This longitudinal study evaluated the effectiveness of a multi-disciplinary community-based service offering conservative treatment for Australian women suffering urinary incontinence and living independently in the community, in terms of urinary incontinence symptom severity, impact on quality of life and knowledge outcomes. One hundred and twenty-three women attending The Waterworx Centre, a multi-disciplinary, publicly funded community-based continence service in South East Queensland Australia participated in the study. They received multi-disciplinary conservative treatment for urinary incontinence, including comprehensive assessment and an individually-tailored plan of care. All the women were also linked back to their own generalist health professional for ongoing care and management. Data were collected over a one-year period: at first consultation, and at three months and six months following the first consultation. The International Continence Society Urinary Symptom Index Short Form-Female Outcome was used to measure urinary symptoms and impact on quality of life, and a researcher-developed test was used to measure changes in knowledge. Results showed that the women experienced an improvement in urinary symptoms and continence-related knowledge at three months following first consultation, and a decreased impact on quality of life, with these improvements either being sustained or increasing at six months. This study demonstrated that multi-disciplinary community-based services offering specialist conservative treatment for women suffering urinary incontinence can be effective in achieving improvements in urinary symptoms and continence-related knowledge and reducing the impact of urinary incontinence on quality of life.