A STUDY ON THE CULTURAL PRACTICES OF POSTNATAL MOTHERS IN SELECTED HOSPITALS AT MANGALORE

Culture may be defined as a shared system of beliefs, values, and behavioural expectations that provide social structure for daily living. Much of the woman's behaviour during the postpartum period is strongly influenced by her cultural background. This study was conducted to identify the cultural practices among the postnatal mothers in selected hospitals at Mangalore. The data was collected from 200 samples between 17-09-12 and 03-11-12 in various hospitals at Mangalore. Descriptive survey research approach was adopted, and collected data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Distribution of the samples based on demographical characteristics revealed that 49% of the samples were in the age group of 25-29 years, 48.5% of the samples had primary education, 49.5% of the samples were from Muslim religion, 89% of the home makers, 65.5% of the joint family and 76% of the rural mothers were participated in the study. Majority of the mothers were consumed home medicine, restricted to use cold water, restricted to perform spiritual activities, 16.5% of the mothers had a practice of applying herbal medicine to hasten the cord to dry during the postnatal period. 59.5% of the mothers were following unhygienic practice that using a cloth soaked in baby's urine to remove the coated tongue. Hence the study concluded that the postnatal mothers had followed some of the cultural practices mostly in rural areas.