Examines the behavioral and dietary restrictions that apply to Vietnamese and Vietnamese-Chinese women during pregnancy. Study participants were 15 ethnic Vietnamese and 25 Vietnamese-Chinese women between the ages of 19 and 49 who had arrived in Australia as refugees between 1978 and 1979. Traditional Vietnamese medicine combines Chinese medicine, which emphasizes polar opposites, and indigenous folk medicine, which explains illness in terms of the absence of certain vital spirits. In addition, Vietnamese medicine classifies illness in terms of hot and cold and food as hot, cold, tonic, windy, magical, and neutral – attributes related to the food’s physical effects on the body. From early pregnancy, ethnic Vietnamese or Vietnamese-Chinese women are subjected to various restraints, including avoiding heavy work, nighttime bathing, and funerals, weddings, or shrines. Foods are prescribed or proscribed on the basis of the stage of pregnancy; for example, during the first trimester, a pregnant woman should eat hot food to correct the cold imbalance that she and her fetus are believed to be experiencing. Other food taboos or preferences seek to ensure a successful pregnancy. Observance of such food rituals provided these refugee women an important cultural bridge in preparation for motherhood in a new environment.
