Researching Culture Aspects of OB

Dayray, RN · Feb 27, 2006

Hmm, Don't know of any sites specifically for this. I do take care of many Indian patients, as my city has a fairly large Indian population. We also have a few Indian OB's. Also I love Indian culture, movies, music, art, and history. I'll put in my 2 cents for what its worth.

First off India is a huge country and culture varies quite a bit. The British occupied India for a long time so Indians are pretty familiar with western culture and ideals.

There is also a culture of American born 1st generation Indians. Most American born Indians are very American and often you can see that they struggle to reconcile their family’s traditional values with their own American culture.

Most Indians (that were raised in India) are fairly spiritual. The main religion in India is Hinduism which contains of allot of different denominations. There are also Christians, Muslims and Seeks (not sure if I’m spelling that right).

Indian culture varies allot based on what area of India they come from and what religion they are. Most of the Indians I have cared for have some similar cultural characteristics. I do hate to generalize so please take these observations with a grain of salt and realize that people are all different.

Indians seem to have a pretty strong respect for healthcare providers. I have in the past noticed that many of them expect that the Doctor and nurse will tell them what they need to do. Often when I offer them choices they are at a bit of a loss, and prefer to just do what ever the doctor thinks is best.

Choices on pain medication seem to be about the same as American women with some taking epidurals and some choosing not to. Indian women do tend to be very expressive of pain and often vocalize. I have never had an Indian patient who I would describe as stoic.

It is a bit of a patriarchal culture still the husbands are usually very caring and sympathetic of their wives.

I used to ask if there were any cultural considerations or wishes but never got any requests. Indian patients seem to just want to blend in and sometimes are reluctant to share information about their culture. I really enjoy taking care of people from India because they usually very friendly and they love their children so much. I've never had a problem with Indian patients not wanting a male care provider.

Arranged marriages are frequent, couples that were born in India seem to accept this as a way of life and although it's a different way of thinking about love, for the most part I see a strong love and respect between couples. America born arranged couples don't seem to have an easy time of it. I have had a few patients tell me that they feel like they are married to a stranger and have gotten that feeling from the way they interact.

Indians from India will usually want their mother or sisters in the room and will be a bit sad if they don't have family with them here in the US. The patients extended male family and friends will often be in the waiting room and are very respectful of the patient’s privacy. Husbands stay in the room for delivery and do support their wives very well.

One thing that surprised me at first was the noises Indians make when interacting with their babies. It's really not any stranger then goo goo, still it cough me a bit off guard the first time I heard it. It sounds a bit like a birdcall.

The main thing I notice about Indian patients is that they are very open minded and don't have any hard and fast rules that must be followed

I'm not sure if that helped and apologize if I offended anyone. I'll say again that this is a generalization and know for a fact that their are Indian people who don't fit the descriptions I have made.

SmilingBluEyes · Feb 28, 2006

I have a great book for you that is a good resource and discusses cultural aspects of nursing care. It's spiral-bound and I keep it at work for my use at all times. Here it is:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0943671159/qid=1141139130/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-0362310-1232116?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

Culture & Nursing Care: A Pocket Guide (Spiral-bound)

by Pamela A. Minarik

This book is amazing. I find it very easy to use.

bellywoman · Feb 28, 2006

I don't know that she studies India (her focus is Mexico and cross-cultural comp), but Robbie Davis Floyd is a great anthropologist who studies birth. She's also very good about responding to emails. If you ask her she would probably know where you could look.

I don't have her contact info on me but if you google her she has a website.

EricJRN, MSN, RN · Mar 1, 2006

One topic that has been the subject of a fair amount of media coverage lately is female infanticide. This is not common in most parts of India (or among Indian-Americans), but it seems to be a particular problem in Tamil Nadu, which is in the southern portion of India.

Female infanticide involves the killing of female infants, as girls are sometimes less desired in this rural part of that nation. Again, not a problem that is characteristic of the whole country or of Indian women living here in the US.

midwife2b · Mar 1, 2006

Try this link: May need to scroll down to "Hindu" and "Indian"

http://www.med.umich.edu/multicultural/ccp/culture.htm#asian