Any one know anything regarding Chaldean Birth practices?

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I have a cultural presentation due in school about the birth practices of the Chaldean culture and any consideration that the nurse should have when caring for them. Google has returned nothing on the subject and neither has any journal databases or library searches. If anyone here is Chaldean, or knows someone who is, or provides perinatal treatment to Chaldean patients and would be willing to answer some questions on the subject, I would be greatly appreciative.

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

Not 100%, but the Chaldeans were an ancient civilization- I'm kind of doubting you'd encounter a Chaldean today......

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Specializes in Public Health.

If I were you, I would choose a topic more relevant.

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If I were you, I would choose a topic more relevant.

I was assigned this culture. I have already asked the professor to be reassigned but she refuses.

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Not 100%, but the Chaldeans were an ancient civilization- I'm kind of doubting you'd encounter a Chaldean today......

There are Chaldeans alive today. There are Large communities of them in Detroit, Michigan and San Diego, California. Most of them migrated to the US shortly before and during the Iraq war.

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Specializes in Public Health.

I was assigned this culture. I have already asked the professor to be reassigned but she refuses.

That sounds like she wants it to be difficult, not useful. Assignments are supposed to be useful learning exercises, not barely relevant time wasters.

Major groups of culture and their diverse practices are important things to have at least a point of reference for.

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Not 100%, but the Chaldeans were an ancient civilization- I'm kind of doubting you'd encounter a Chaldean today......

I am 100% Chaldean. My parents immigrated from Iraq in the 60s and I was born in the Metro-Detroit area. Yes, our heritage is ancient, but we are still around! A lot of times we are grouped into the Assyrian classification, but there are some differences (not sure what, other than our dialect as I can barely understand them when they speak). Although I can't speak the language (which is a derivative of Aramaic), I can understand it.

As for our birth practices, maybe it's because most Chaldeans in the US have become so westernized, but I truly don't know of any unusual or culturally relevant practices in my culture. I do know that my mom was adamant about ensuring she had natural births for all her children, but I believe that was just her personal preference. Also, since Chaldeans originate from an Arab nation, most assume that we are of Muslim faith, which we are not. I know that Muslim women do not allow any men provide their healthcare, so that means during birth everyone in the room must be a female. But our faith (Catholicism) does not prohibit men from providing care to women.

I wish I could help you more...this sounds like a challenging assignment, considering I am of that heritage and I don't know any unusual birth practices outside the westernized norm!

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I didn't find anything specific on Google, but here are links to three organizations that you may be able to contact for more information. You may try calling them and asking for help:

CAAHP-USA

Chaldean-Middle Eastern Social Services/ Medical Center Fundraiser

www.CHALDEAN.org > Home

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
There are Chaldeans alive today. There are Large communities of them in Detroit, Michigan and San Diego, California. Most of them migrated to the US shortly before and during the Iraq war.

Chaldean Americans are descendants of people from the northern Tigris-Euphrates Valley, presently located in the Middle Eastern nation of Iraq. The majority of Chaldean Americans live in Detroit, Michigan, although there are also Chaldean Americans in Chicago, Illinois; El Cajon, San Jose, and Turlock, California; and Oaxaca, Mexico. It is difficult to determine the exact number of Chaldeans in the United States because they are not represented as such in the U.S. Census. According to statistical projections from previous data on the Chaldean American community, however, it is estimated that Chaldeans in the Detroit metropolitan area may number as many as 70,000 to 80,000; in California they are projected at 2,000 to 3,000 persons.

Although Chaldean Americans constitute the bulk of Iraqi immigrants living in the United States, they represent less than 10 percent of the population of Iraq. While the vast majority of Iraqis, like residents of other Arabic nations, are Muslim, Chaldeans are Roman Catholic, and practice one of the 18 to 20 separate rites of the Catholic Church. They also differ from other Iraqis in that their ancestral language is not Arabic but a dialect of Aramaic, also referred to as Chaldean, Assyrian, or Syriac. As a result of their religious and linguistic differences from other Iraqi immigrants, Chaldeans tend not to identify themselves either with Iraq or the Arab world, but prefer being called Chaldean Americans.

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Specializes in OB, HH, ADMIN, IC, ED, QI.

It could be that some disease(s) occur more in this small group of people. It could be that your instructor ran across a patient who had that in her DNA, and she wants the class to be aware of that possibility in all people...

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I have come across this site but it does not address birth practices or culture.

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As I mentioned in my earlier post, Chaldeans are almost always associated with Assyrians...so much so that the two heritage groups are often referenced interchangeably. In light of this, perhaps this site I found will help you?

Assyrian Rituals of Life-Cycle Events

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