Traditional Childbearing Beliefs and Practices among Mothers at a District Hospital in Goa

Background: Traditional health practices are observed by mothers in every region of the world with varying frequency. They often get influenced by their peers and elders and follow some potentially harmful practices during their childbearing period. Aim: To identify and describe various traditional beliefs and practices observed during pregnancy among mothers at South Goa District Hospital. Methods: This is a descriptive, cross-sectional study. It was conducted over a period of 3 months (March-May 2019) among postnatal mothers by interviewing study participants about various cultural beliefs and practices observed during pregnancy. Data were entered into an Excel spreadsheet and analysed using SPSS version 22. Results: Nearly two-thirds of the study participants (68.75%) avoided going outdoors and laid in bed during an eclipse while 42.5% avoided sleeping on the abdomen or slept in the left lateral position to avoid birth defects in babies. To predict the sex of the baby, 12.5% of the mothers believed that if a pregnant lady craves sweet food, it’s a girl and if she craves sour/ salty food, it’s a boy while 11.5% believed that if a pregnant woman is carrying low, it’s a boy. With respect to food taboos, 53.75% of the mothers believed in avoiding ‘hot’ foods and eating ‘cold’ foods during pregnancy. Conclusion: The study highlights the popular traditional childbearing practices observed among mothers as a means of creating awareness among health professionals in order to discourage possible harmful practices and promote beneficial practices for a safe and healthy pregnancy.