The cultural context of infant feeding in Fiji.

Abstract

This paper describes traditional beliefs and practices regarding infant feeding in the Fijian and the Fiji-Indian cultures and examines the cultural context and current practices in infant feeding and care in both cultures. Information on traditional beliefs and practices was obtained using open-ended interviews with elderly women and Fijian and Fiji-Indian traditional birth attendants. Data on current beliefs and practices were obtained from open-ended interviews with mothers, by using participant observation in the hospital and postnatal clinic and the retrospective examination of hospital records of all deliveries for one year. The incorporation of traditional beliefs and values into current infant feeding methods is discussed. There is evidence that cultural factors inhibit exclusive breast or bottle feeding but encourage a pattern of mixed feeding which appears to be both biologically and culturally adaptive.