Summarizes the traditional beliefs about pregnancy and childbearing held by Southeast Asian refugees. The study involved a series of interviews with 100 Khmer women, 30 Vietnamese women, and 233 Laotian lowland or hill-tribe women attending a prenatal clinic at the Phanat Nikhom refugee camp in Thailand. Among the key findings were that: (1) all 4 ethnic groups believed that inactivity or overeating during pregnancy caused labor difficulties; (2) all groups also believed that drinking coconut milk cleansed and protected the fetus; (3) Hill-tribe and Khmer women used traditional plant medicines to protect themselves and their fetuses during gestation; (4) Hill-tribe women believed that disturbing the spirit that resides in the pregnant woman’s home will cause harm to the unborn child; (5) all Southeast Asian women believed that a new mother must be protected from wind (or invasion by airborne influences) and be restored quickly to a proper hot-cold balance; and (6) because physical heat is essential to new mothers, they delay breast feeding until their milk has come so as not to deplete their own vital heat. Belief in these traditions helps explain why Southeast Asian refugees are reluctant to accept some common Western obstetric practices.
