Give three compelling examples of how cultural issues affect your project.
According to a study done by the University of Queensland, when women give birth in certain regions of the Philippines it is common to place squash leaves on the woman’s abdomen as they believe it can make labor easier for them, as well as drinking coconut water throughout their labor. After giving birth to the baby, the father will wait for the placenta to be delivered in order to quickly bury it, signifying the end of a struggle and healthy birth of their child.
After labor women are given heavy blankets and clothing to wrap themselves in to avoid exposure to cold and winds. Apart from the heavy blankets and clothing women also tightly bind their abdomen because they believe that it will contract their uterus and prevent bleeding. To avoid excessive bleeding and weakness women in the Philippino culture tend to rely on relatives to do housework and cooking while the mother focuses her attention on the baby and restoring her health.
After birth many women participate in a ritual where the goal is to dry out their womb. This involves sitting on a chair over a stone, lying next to an oven, or even bathing in smoke from burning leaves. The purposes and origins of this ritual were not specified.
Have you experienced or observed any of these social situations at home? Describe at least three such situations.
When a woman gives birth in the United States, if they are struggling during childbirth then the doctor may apply pressure to their abdomen in an attempt to help the baby come out faster. While the leaves that are applied to the women’s abdomen in the Philippines are not heavy in any way they see a purpose and a positive effect that comes from placing these leaves on a woman’s abdomen during childbirth.
Another common practice in the united states is the use of the placenta after childbirth. While some mother chooses to consume the placenta for vitamins and nutrients, mothers in the Philippines also utilize their placenta but for a ritual signifying the end of the birth and suffering. While both practices differ the placenta is used as a form of belief and positive outcomes.
Women in the United States also commonly take maternity leave after they have given birth in order to recuperate and take care of the baby until they are ready to go back to their work. In the Philippines, the work falls onto family members in order to ensure that the mother focuses her energy on the child and being able to get back to her responsibilities when she is ready and able.
Give three examples of cultural practices that can be leveraged to addressed community/ market problems.
In this case, the promise of shorter maternity leave would help. If mothers are given a healthy birth then they could relieve their relatives quicker from their duties of taking care of the mother and newborn and they can get back to their lives and so can the mother and baby. Even though relatives may understand that this is a responsibility that they follow in their culture, if a woman has a very rough birth then the relative has to now take care of them and their household for longer than they might like to or be able to.
Another practice could be the bamboo mats that women prefer over a traditional birthing bed. If we were able to find a way to make the bamboo mat more comfortable or make the traditional bed give women what the bamboo mat gives them then they could have safer births, leading to shorter maternity leaves.
The leaves that are placed on the expecting mother’s abdomen could be replaced by something more effective that would help the mother give birth easily and safely while still giving them the cultural aspect that they receive from the leaves.