Postpartum worries: an exploration of Taiwanese primiparas who participate in the Chinese ritual of tso-yueh-tzu.

Abstract

Problem: To explore worries of postpartum mothers who participate in Tso-Yueh-Tzu.

Subjects: Primiparas (N = 21) with a mean age of 30 years, a mean educational level of 15 years. Seventeen (81%) were working. The mean number of postpartum days was 14.

Methods: Focus groups, each group session lasted approximately 2 hours and was audiotaped.

Findings: Four themes regarding worries emerged: searching process to integrate the self into the rituals of Tso-Yueh-Tzu, understanding that the newborn's care influences evaluation of the self as a "good mother," decision-making process of the self to arrange the best baby care for a career women, and reconciling the need for self-fulfillment with the demand to be a "family-mother."

Conclusions & implications for nursing: Nurses can help a mother work through her worries. Although the women expressed their worries in different content, all focused on the need for "the integration of the self" while they went through Tso-Yueh-Tzu.