The fading birth practice: urban Malay mothers in Malaysia negotiating confinement practices.
Malay mothers’ postpartum experiences often include a period of confinement, similar to other Asian parallel practices of “doing the month”. This confinement period comprise of a set of beliefs, rules, and practices based on traditional eastern medicinal knowledge. Cultural practices of postpa...
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| Format: | Conference or Workshop Item |
| Language: | English English |
| Published: |
2019
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://irep.iium.edu.my/76869/2/ecICOSSH2019p%20%281%29.pdf http://irep.iium.edu.my/76869/8/The%20fading%20birth%20practice_ICOSSH2019.pdf http://irep.iium.edu.my/76869/ |
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| Summary: | Malay mothers’ postpartum experiences often include a period of confinement, similar
to other Asian parallel practices of “doing the month”. This confinement period
comprise of a set of beliefs, rules, and practices based on traditional eastern medicinal
knowledge. Cultural practices of postpartum confinement, or berpantang, among urban
mothers in Malaysia is competing with modern western medicine in the contemporary
setting. The data for this presentation is from a phenomenological study utilising twelve
open-ended interviews of couples and two focus group discussions with mothers on
their experience of berpantang. Even though it is still widely performed, the elements
within berpantang are handpicked by these mothers. According to these mothers, the
traditional practices are thought to be inadequate or inferior when compared to the
authority of western biomedicine. In events where medical practitioners give opposing
advice, all mothers chose to adhere to, and accept biomedicine’s explanations and
justifications over the traditional practice. The former cultural figure head, the bidan
(midwife), is no longer a part of the birthing process in these urban settings. Urban
mothers today rely on or refer to their maternal mothers for knowledge and guidance
on berpantang. Urban mothers who practise berpantang describe the main reason for
their practise was to maintain familial peace. This paper seeks to highlight social and
cultural implications this hegemony has particularly on challenging the continuity in the
chain of traditional knowledge. |
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