© 2004 BMJ Publishing Group & Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health
LEADING ARTICLE
Obstetrics
Hindu birth customs
1 Manor Hospital, Walsall, UK; Hon Professor Paediatrics University of Kentucky, USA
2 Manor Hospital, Walsall, UK
3 Division of Community Health Sciences: GP Section, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr A R Gatrad
Manor Hospital, Moat Road, Walsall WS2 9PS, UK; sec.gatrad@walsallhospitals.nhs.uk
Marriage, pregnancy, and birth rituals
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
Many expectant mothers have fears and anxieties about their pregnancy. For Hindu pregnant women, these general concerns may be compounded by difficulties in communicating with healthcare professionals. It is our aim in this paper to provide clinicians with a basic understanding of Hindu birth customs in the hope that such appreciation will go some way to facilitating provision of culturally competent and sensitive care.
In their excellent paper Webb and Sergison1 defined cultural competence as an evolving process that depends on self-reflection, self-awareness, and acceptance of differences. They further explain that such competence is based on improving understanding as opposed to an increase in cultural knowledge. While fully concurring with their views we would argue that knowledge of cultural context can be helpful in providing a prototype (as opposed to a stereotype) of factors which may be important in the provision of patient centred care.
Hinduism—one of the oldest
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This article has been cited by other articles:
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Gatrad, R, Jhutti-Johal, J, Gill, P S, Sheikh, A
(2005). Sikh birth customs. Arch. Dis. Child.
90: 560-563
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