Traditional Beliefs and Practices Related to Puerperium, Neonatal Care and Breastfeeding in the Postpartum Period

Objective: In this research, we aimed to determine the traditional beliefs and implemented practices of women in postpartum period regarding puerperium, neonatal, care, and breastfeeding. Method: The study was cross-sectional and descriptive and consisted of 618 women living in seven regions of Turkey between December 12,2022 and January 15,2023. The data were collected through a personal information form created by the researchers and snowball sampling method was used. Mean, standard deviation, number, percentage, and chi-square tests were used to evaluate the data. Findings: The average age of the women participating in the study was between 38.15±10.62, and the duration of the marriage was 16.59±11.54 years. Of the women, 33.3% are primary school graduates, 73% are not working, 54.4% have an income equivalent to expenses, and 86.9% have a nuclear family structure. Of them, 59.7% stated that they resorted to traditional practices related to puerperal care, 61.8% to neonatal care, and 47.9% to breastfeeding. The traditional practices that women use the most are abstinence from sexual intercourse for forty days in puerperium (66.8%), swaddling in neonatal care (75.9%), consuming hot milk, soup, etc., and increasing milk consumption during breastfeeding (62.6%). It was found that there is a significant difference between the traditional methods applied for puerperal care, neonatal care, and breastfeeding when compared by region (p0.05). Conclusions and recommendations: It was determined that the women participating in the study applied many traditional methods related to puerperium, neonatal care, and breastfeeding. Although these methods show regional differences, they are often used. It is proposed to increase the awareness of society and health professionals specialized in their field about traditional methods and to create policies for health organizations to identify and inform, considering that these traditional methods may create differences in individuals.