Jewish Culture Prenatal, Post Partum and Newborn Practices

Table of Contents

Introduction1

Discussion2

Superstitions2

Family Roles3

Nutrition4

Pain5

Contraception Methods5

Conclusion6

References7

Jewish Culture Prenatal, Post Partum and Newborn Practices

Introduction

Pregnancy and childbirth have been described as one of the most important experience of life that women and their partners feel and encounter. This time reflects the extreme transition of physical and emotional well being of women and their families. It consists of intense hormonal, psychological, and biological changes, which have a major impact on the brain of the woman throughout the pregnancy and postpartum periods. Thirteen out of 100 new mothers experience some form of depression after childbirth. Postpartum depression is rapidly becoming a major public health problem, and is considered to be a leading complication in childbirth (Selekman 2003).

In general, Jewish people underutilize psychotherapy and mental health services, especially when they feel that they have failed to meet the expectations of a culturally expected role. Jewish women are expected to follow the commandment found in Genesis (1:28) to be “fruitful and multiply.” They are expected to feel happy within their prescribed role. Therefore, Orthodox Jewish pregnant women may have a harder time recognizing their illness as well as admitting to others that there is a need for care. Orthodox Jewish people are reluctant to seek professional help due to fear of stigmatization and trepidation of not living up to the expectations of their families, communities, and value systems (Schwartz 2004).

In this paper, we will be discussing Jewish culture prenatal, post partum and newborn practices in terms of their superstitions, family roles, and nutrition, pain, and contraception methods.

Discussion

Superstitions

The Jewish people are members of a traditional religion known as Judaism, and they define themselves as originating from the ancient Hebrew people from Israel or Canaan. Orthodox Jews subscribe to the most conventional form of Judaism; they interpret the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew and Christian bibles, literally, and strongly differentiate the roles of the genders. Some are considered to be Ultra-Orthodox, whereby they conduct their lifestyles according to Ultra-Orthodox beliefs and customs (Mattson 2000).

There are a variety of different Orthodox subgroups. Orthodox Jews typically fall into the following groups: (a) Hasidim, or (b) Misnagdim. Hasidic followers adhere to Eastern European traditions. They follow the Ba'al Shem Tov (c.1700-1760) who taught these followers to express their relationship with God through prayer, singing and dancing; and then there are the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic followers who adhered to the teachings of Rabbi Shneiur Zalman. They are dispersed globally, with the largest concentration in Israel. Israel has among its population 700,000 Haredi Jews, which represents approximately 11% of Israel's population. Hasidim also includes a variety of subgroups, or sects, which were originally based on the town in which the Orthodox Jewish people lived. Many of the groups still exist today, and some of them are known as Belz, Satmir, and Munkatch. The Misnagdim, or opponents, were Orthodox Jews who were against the Hasidim's overemphasis on mysticism and glorification of the Rebbe. They do not consider themselves Hasidic and are also ...