<< The discussion of what to do if a
Vietnamese woman asked for formula for her newborn came up at the ALCA
conference. (it was a concurrent session and not what the talk was about).
The speaker felt that the mother's wish should be followed and that really
we didn't have a right to tell her otherwise - 'interfering with customs'.>>
Jennifer wrote:
To what "customs" are we referring? I find that we are quick to assume some
sort of "cultural" reason for not breastfeeding if the mother doesn't look
like us or speak our language. I believe motherhood is more universal than
that and that it is just too easy to lay the blame on cultural differences.

When I was studying for my nursing degree (conversion from hospital based RN
qualification) I did an interesting paper on cultural beliefs of the
Vietnamese and how it affected health practices. There are many Asian
cultures that believe that colostrum is "bad" for the baby and that is why
they ask for formula for the first three days. In a short-stay situation,
this would mean they would appear to be formula feeding on discharge, when
in fact these mothers may well breastfeed when they get home.
Just a thought
Kirsten Blacker

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