Dear Liz Spannraff,
Reading your comments on the problems faced in hospital with cultural beliefs
and inhibitions of Indian women hit very close to home. In the facility that I
work in, we have a large population of Indian women. You describe exactly the
same difficulties we face here.  We often have to place signs on the room to
restrict entry "no males allowed" this includes the dads if mom is
breastfeeding. Again, the women believe that the nurse is to stay with them and
hold the baby and the breast. Often, a grandmother or other woman is available
to help but there is usually a language barrier. In an effort to be sensitive
to their beliefs, I try to spend as much time with them as I can during their
first feeding and then encourage them to put the baby to breast often and I
stress to not wait for the nurse or anyone, that the mother is capable of
giveing her baby everything she/he needs. Sometimes I meet a lot of resistence
from the moms and I will discover they put the baby in the nursery for the
night on bottles. This problem also seems to be exaggerated by the very
prominent class system these families are used to. Many Indian women have told
me that in their country women are paid to feed their babies to allow the women
some time to "recover from the birth". They view birth as an acute illness with
a period of convalescence.
One of the hardest issues is dealing with staff when they get frustrated. I try
to provide as much of the LLL pamphlets that stress close attachment and
frequent nursing as well as the benefits of the mother spending time caring for
the baby. Many Indian women are very interested in what Americans do and I do
notice a metamorphosis of sorts by the time many women are discharged.
So hang in there!
Kate Chalmers RN,MSN,IBCLC