Food Taboos of Childbirth: The Malay Example†

Abstract

Tradition and folk beliefs created a highly structured set of rituals obligatory for 40 days for the Malay woman who gave birth. During confinement great care was taken that harmful materials, especially “cold” foods such as fruits and vegetables, and “toxic” fish, did not enter the body. Permitted foods and behaviour were designed to keep the body “hot” and prevent “toxicity” in the suckling. Fifty women selected randomly in a Malay fishing village were studied by participant observation. They reported that a varied normal diet continued through pregnancy but it altered abruptly at childbirth because of dietary restrictions. Observation of all foods consumed for a full day during the lying‐in of two women indicated that the food taboos of the puerperium lowered intakes of essential nutrients.