Research
Perinatal Beliefs and Practices of Immigrant Punjabi Women Living in Canada

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1552-6909.2008.00234.xGet rights and content

ABSTRACT

Objective

To describe new immigrant Punjabi women’s perinatal experiences and the ways that traditional beliefs and practices are legitimized and incorporated into the Canadian health care context.

Design

Naturalistic qualitative descriptive.

Participants/Setting

Fifteen first-time mothers who had immigrated in the past 5 years to Canada from Punjab, India, and had given birth to a healthy infant in the past 3 months in a large urban center in British Columbia, Canada. Five health professionals and community leaders also took part in a focus group to confirm the study findings and to offer recommendations.

Results

Three major categories emerged: the pervasiveness of traditional health beliefs and practices related to the perinatal period (e.g., diet, lifestyle, and rituals), the important role of family members in supporting women during the perinatal experiences, and the positive and negative interactions women had with health professionals in the Canadian health care system.

Conclusions

Change is required at the levels of the health professional, the heath care system, and the community to ensure that culturally safe care is provided to immigrant Punjabi women and their families during the perinatal period, which is an important and sensitive period of interaction with the Canadian health care system.

Section snippets

Background literature

Health professionals have struggled in their attempts to address the health care needs of diverse cultural populations and provide culturally safe health care. Over the years, nursing scholars particularly have focused on developing cultural assessment guides and “cultural profiles” for various groups (Anderson 1990, Lipson et al., 1996, Tripp-Reimer et al., 1984, Waxler-Morrison et al., 1990). For example, Choudhry (1998) developed an overview of traditional perinatal beliefs and practices of

Design

This naturalistic qualitative study (Lincoln & Guba, 1985) was directed toward deepening the understanding of the perinatal experiences of new immigrant Punjabi women living in a large urban center in British Columbia, Canada. Members of a South Asian women’s advocacy group were notified and encouraged to discuss the study within the Punjabi community. Physicians and PHNs were also asked to inform their clients about the study and invite eligible women to participate in individual, face-to-face

Health beliefs and practices related to the perinatal period

Pregnancy and the birth of a child is a celebrated event among Punjabi families. Once the women suspected that they were pregnant, they usually told their husbands, who encouraged the women to visit their physicians to have the pregnancy medically confirmed. An announcement was then made to immediate family members, including parents, in-laws, and siblings. Although the women often felt shy sharing this news, they knew it was important to disclose the pregnancy because it would validate the

Discussion

To our knowledge, this study offers the most in-depth, women-centered description of the perinatal experiences of immigrant Punjabi women. Despite the steady acculturation of the immigrant Punjabi community in British Columbia, the perinatal stories shared by the women and the health professionals working with this community highlight the enduring nature of the traditional beliefs and practices associated with the perinatal period. In addition, new Canadian immigration policies, such as the

Study limitations

With the study sample limited to first-time mothers who had recently immigrated to Canada from Punjab, India, the findings cannot be confidently transferred to South Asian immigrants from other regions of India as well as different countries of origin (i.e., Pakistan, Fiji, and Africa). In addition, the study findings may not accurately portray the perinatal experiences of Punjabi women with different immigration histories, such as those individuals who immigrated as a child or are second- and

Recommendations

Based on the study findings and input from focus group participants, several key practice recommendations are offered for nurses and other health professionals (i.e., midwives, physicians) regarding the development of culturally safe perinatal health services for immigrant Punjabi women. These recommendations include:

  • 1.

    Developing undergraduate curricula and continuing education opportunities that ensure health professionals have the knowledge, ability, and sensitivity to create culturally safe

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Dr. Joy Johnson and the Canadian Cancer Society for a Research Scientist Award for Dr. Balneaves.

References (32)

  • J.L. Bottorff et al.

    Beliefs related to breast health practices: The perceptions of South Asian women living in Canada

    Social Science and Medicine

    (1998)
  • I. Dyck et al.

    Transforming the relations of research: Towards culturally safe geographies of health and healing

    Health & Place

    (1995)
  • L.M. Meadows et al.

    Immigrant women’s health

    Social Science Medicine

    (2001)
  • S.M. Ahmed et al.

    Cultural issues in the primary care of South Asians

    Journal of Immigrant Health

    (2000)
  • J. Anderson

    Health care across cultures

    Nursing Outlook

    (1990)
  • A. Bowes et al.

    Pakistani women and maternity care: Raising muted voices

    Sociology of Health and Illness

    (1996)
  • I. Bowler

    “They’re not the same as us”: Midwives’ stereotypes of South Asian descent maternity patients

    Sociology of Health and Illness

    (1993)
  • A.C. Braithwaite et al.

    Childbirth experiences of professional Chinese Canadian women

    Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, & Neonatal Nursing

    (2004)
  • U.K. Choudhry

    Health promotion among immigrant women from Indi living in Canada

    Journal of Nursing Scholarship

    (1998)
  • U.K. Choudhry

    Uprooting and resettlement experiences of South Asian immigrant women

    Western Journal of Nursing Research

    (2001)
  • J. Christman

    Relational autonomy, liberal individualism, and the social constitution of selves

    Philosophical Studies

    (2004)
  • R. Dhari et al.

    Creating a supportive environment for Indo-Canadian women

    Canadian Nurse

    (1997)
  • R. Fan

    Self-determination vs. family-determination: Two incommensurable principles of autonomy

    Bioethics

    (1997)
  • L.C. Fulcher

    Cultural safety and the duty of care

    Child Welfare

    (2002)
  • K. Fung et al.

    Factors influencing attitudes towards seeking professional help among East and Southeast Asian immigrant and refugee women

    International Journal of Social Psychiatry

    (2007)
  • U. George et al.

    Race, gender, and class: Interlocking oppressions in the lives of South Asian women in Canada

    Affilia

    (1998)
  • Cited by (71)

    • Functional status, social support, and anxiety among postnatal women of Eastern India

      2023, European Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Biology: X
    • Systematic Review of Immigrant Women's Experiences With Perinatal Care in North America

      2017, JOGNN - Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, and Neonatal Nursing
      Citation Excerpt :

      Hill et al., 2012, p. 78) Additionally, communication barriers were a major challenge for many women (Bernosky de Flores, 2010b; Grewal et al., 2008; Herrel et al., 2004; Lee et al., 2014; Reitmanova & Gustafson, 2008; Seo et al., 2014; Shaffer, 2002): “I couldn't understand anything from my doctor. My first labor and delivery experience was difficult, but it would've been better if I understood what was happening… Also I couldn't use Korean interpreting services [during labor and delivery]” (Seo et al., 2014, p. 309).

    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text