Infant Feeding Practices: The Case of Hmong Women in Australia

Abstract

I discuss infant feeding beliefs and practices among Hmong women in Melbourne, focusing particularly on changed patterns that have occurred since their settlement in Australia. Traditionally, Hmong women breastfeed their newborn infants. Most women can breastfeed successfully in their homeland. However, since their settlement in a new country, some women have changed to bottlefeeding. Reasons given include the need to study English and seek employment, the availability of infant formula, insufficient milk, and their concern about the health and well-being of the infants. Hmong women either choose breast- or bottlefeeding based on what they think is best for their babies; their clear intention is to have children who will be healthy and thrive. Understanding of women's beliefs and practices relating to feeding is essential in creating a breastfeeding campaign. More importantly, the information will assist health professionals to support mothers in their choice of a feeding method, whether it be breast or bottle.

Postpartum breastfeeding experiences in the traditional‐biomedical crossroads: A qualitative study using drawing with Vietnamese and Myanmarese refugee women in Australia

“…Recent Australian studies have investigated perspectives of Cambodian (Hoban & Liamputtong, 2013), Asian (Hoang et al, 2009) and Chinese (Kuswara, Laws, Kremer, Hesketh, & Campbell, 2016) immigrants. Experiences of Vietnamese (Mathews & Manderson, 1980;Rossiter, 1998) and Lao (Liamputtong, 2002) refugee communities were reported 15-30 years ago, whereas worldviews of refugees from the African continent have been studied more recently (Gallegos, Vicca, & Streiner, 2015;Tyler, Kirby, & Rogers, 2014). However, no Australian study has focused on the most recent refugee arrivals or on mothers who arrived as child or teenage refugees decades ago (established arrivals).…”

Feeding an infant in a foreign land: the experiences of refugee mothers from Vietnam and Myanmar

“…This leads me to contend that she was a refugee in her own way. Similar findings were mirrored in studies involving refugees where the differences in diet, lifestyles, familial conflicts and stress were a barrier to breastfeeding in their new homeland (Rossiter, 1992a;Liamputtong, 2002;Groleau, Soulière & Kirmayer, 2006;Hufton & Raven, 2014;Tyler, Kirby & Rogers, 2014;Kuswara, Laws, Kremer, Hesketh & Campbell, 2016). Thus, since infant feeding is culturally situated in traditional societies and breastfeeding is a low-cost preventive intervention in tackling child health inequalities, knowledge regarding maternal experiences of infant feeding prior to and upon resettlement is paramount to crafting appropriate health promotion strategies.…”

“…Infant feeding is a significant human experience that is not simply about meeting a child's nutritional needs, but is also imbued with social, emotional, sexual and cultural meanings and experiences of the mother and her wider social milieu (Callaghan & Lazard, 2012). Women from traditional cultures have been known to breastfeed their children for up to the second year of life or beyond (Liamputtong & Naksook, 2001a;Liamputtong, 2002;White et al, 2012;Gallegos et al, 2015). Traditionally, these mothers practiced child-led weaning, where their infants weaned naturally when the subsequent child was born (Liamputtong, 1999) or when the mother became pregnant again (Liamputtong & Naksook, 2001a;Gallegos et al, 2015).…”

“…Despite breastfeeding being a transgenerational social norm of infant feeding in most traditional communities, poverty, food insecurity and limited knowledge on the best way to feed their infants often contributed to sub-optimal feeding practices in refugee populations (Rossiter, 1992b(Rossiter, , 1992aLiamputtong, 2002;White et al, 2012;Kimani-Murage, Wekesah, Wanjohi, Kyobutungi, Ezeh, Musoke, Norris, Madise & Griffiths, 2015). The practices of pre-lacteal feeding, prolonged exclusive breastfeeding, and early or delayed introduction to complementary foods were widespread in these communities (Hashimoto & McCourt, 2009;Jessri et al, 2013).…”

“…Mothers from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds are reported to have lower rates of breastfeeding than the general Australian population (Scott & Binns, 1999;Arora, Manohar, Hayen, Bhole, Eastwood, Levy & Scott, 2017). In the past two decades, the infant feeding practices and experiences of Thai (Liamputtong & Naksook, 2001a, 2001b, Japanese (Utaka, Li, Kagawa, Okada, Hiramatsu & Binns, 2005), Hmong (Liamputtong, 1999(Liamputtong, , 2002, Chinese (Langdon, Johnson & Diong, 2000;Binns, Li & Zhang, 2003;Li, Zhang, Scott & Binns, 2004;Kuswara et al, 2016), Indian (Maharaj & Bandyopadhyay, 2013), Afghanistani (Tsianakas & Liamputtong, 2007), Sudanese (Tyler et al, 2014), Cambodian (Hoban & Liamputtong, 2013), Vietnamese (Mathews & Manderson, 1980;Rossiter, 1992aRossiter, , 1992bRossiter, , 1998Rossiter & Yam, 2000) and African (Gallegos, Vicca & Streiner, 2015) cultural groups have been studied in the Australian context. Further information about these studies can be found in Chapter 3.…”