Spiritual Beliefs and Religious and Cultural Practices of Haitian Women in Relation to Maternity

-Janice Desir

 

Haitian communities are now to be found in such major cities as Miami, New York City, and Boston. For this reason, elements of Haitian lifestyle, beliefs and values can be observed in a variety of different areas. Among these areas is the influence of religious pluralism. The Haitian community is characterized of different religious systems, each of which is present in U.S. cities like Boston. Such traditions not only provide Haitians with spiritual and emotional support; they also influence perceptions and choices within this population on a wide range of issues. These issues include persons’ views concerning health care and strategies for pursuing health, in ways that both involve biomedical care and go outside its framework to involve complementary therapies. Rarely do Haitian patients discuss such therapies with their caregivers.

This use of culturally grounded complementary and alternative medicines is related to a complex interaction of beliefs, values, perceptions, and religious and cultural orientations towards health and life. The use of these practices is especially seen among women, who are twice as likely as are men to be regular users of alternative medicines. People of African descent (whether Caribbean or West Africans) are also likely to use alternative medicines. Correspondingly, ethnic women, as primary caregivers, employ a variety of therapies in the treatment of ill family members and in their own personal care, including physical attention, spiritual comfort, and folk remedies.

Existing research pertaining to Haitian women is sparse at best. One study provides an overview of cultural issues in relation to Haitian women, but without a focus on beliefs and practices involved in family planning, pregnancy, childbirth, and the infancy of the baby. Another study examines the culture-bound syndrome of pedisyon (perdition), or “arrested pregnancy syndrome,” culturally understood as a factor contributing to the mortality of Haitian women. There is additional data on medical and social variables leading to maternal mortality. Neither of these two studies, however, addresses the experiences of women themselves. One study of fertility rites among Haitian women provides useful information, but is dated enough that new data is needed. Moreover, the study addresses the experience of women in Haiti, and not of immigrant women. Nursing literature has examined cultural issues pertaining to childbearing Haitian refugee women, concluding that these women express similar concerns as their American counterparts. However the study appears not to have focused on the kinds of beliefs and practices of interest to us. In addition, the data pertain to new refugees, and not to women who may have lived in the United States for decades, or who may be second generation Haitian Americans. Another study examines cultural and programmatic barriers to modern contraceptive methods, but does not include traditional practices used in family planning. Finally, one study explores reasons for a decline in breast feeding among Haitian women who have emigrated to the United States. This data is useful in presenting some of the attitudes specifically pertaining to infant feeding preferences. None of the studies looks at the influence of religious/spiritual traditions and their role in Haitian women’s world views.

This project seeks to examine how different religious traditions and/or denominations, present in Haitian communities, inform Haitian women’s approaches to maternal/infant practices, beginning with family planning and continuing through pregnancy, delivery and the first year of the child’s life. The project will assist the medical community in learning more about the relationship between religious world views., and pregnancy, childbirth, and maternity in the experience of Haitian women, especially since these variables often overlap. We anticipate that the study will provide data on common practices/traditions and/or medications or herbal remedies used by Haitian women during this time, as well as providing clinicians with a broad view of the Haitian’s woman outlook on pregnancy and maternal practices during her baby’s infancy.

The findings will contribute to more culturally sensitive health care for pregnant women of Haitian descent. It will also address concerns that perplex the medical community about pregnancy among this population. Such questions include why Haitian women tend to become dehydrated during their pregnancies, what practices/traditions they follow during pregnancy and why they tend to sing rather than scream or shout during the birthing process.

As is increasingly well known in the medical community, failure to adopt transcultural perspectives affects patients’ compliance with prescribed regimens, and clinic attendance. Also, it results in the inability to develop culturally appropriate health education programs and culture-specific care. So, through creating a context in which Haitian women can talk openly about practices and orientations that are most meaningful to them in the context of bearing children, we expect to gain knowledge of cultural healing traditions and remedies among Haitian women that will help clinicians provide care deeply informed by cultural perspectives. We also expect to show a range of perspectives within the Haitian context, so that we avoid the risk of suggesting a one-size-fits-all model.