“I AM NOT FULLY MEDICALIZED.”: A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF POST-NATAL CARE AMONG MALAYSIAN CHILD-BIRTHING WOMEN IN THE UNITED KINGDOM
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17501/26138417.2021.4102Keywords:
traditional treatments, postpartum period, humoral system, heat therapy, cultural value, Malaysian cultureAbstract
Obstetric medicine and reproductive technology have been spread out
worldwide and become the symbol of modernization. Its expansion might displace the
traditional treatments which mostly are practiced by the people in developing countries.
However, the Malaysian women who lived in a Western country and had a well-educated
background still practiced the traditional treatments after giving birth. The study was
conducted in 2016 at Durham, a county in the United Kingdom, and it utilized qualitative
research by interviewing five Malaysian women who had a birth experience in the United
Kingdom. The result of the study revealed that heating the body with hot stone has still
mostly practiced by Malaysian women even living in the United Kingdom, where there
were optional sophisticated technology and qualified medical professional. In addition,
some of them still obeyed the recommended and prohibited foods ruled by the origin
culture during the postpartum period. The treatment was conducted at home supported by
the family and colleagues whose the same ethnicity and nationality. In conclusion, the
national boundaries, high education, and the existence of sophisticated health technology
and qualified medical professional are irrelated to why people still undertake traditional
treatments. The treatment was primarily chosen because of its health effects on the body
after treatments. Therefore, health policymakers have to know and consider the migrant‟s
cultural values in order to make the health system convenient and appropriate to either the
migrants‟ health. In addition, the study needs further research to find the effectiveness and
efficacy of traditional treatments to women‟s health.
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