Vietnamese behavioral and dietary precautions during confinement

In interviews with 40 Vietnamese women, details were collected regarding postpartum behavioral and dietary precautions. Following traditional medical theory, a post‐parturient woman is considered cold; accordingly, behavior and diet are prescribed to restore lost heat and to protect the woman from further cold and wind. All but one respondent observed a traditional confinement following delivery of the last‐born child in Vietnam. In Australia, hospitalization prevented observation of these prescriptions, to the distress of the majority of women. It is suggested that, where practicable, women be allowed to observe traditional precautions after childbirth.