Traditional knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding the health and well-being of children amongst Hmong and Thai immigrants in Australia

This chapter addressed traditional knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding the health and well-being of children amongst Hmong and Thai immigrants in Australia. I will discuss childrearing beliefs and practices and their relation to child health in two cultural groups: Hmong and Thai cultures. In particular I focus on both traditional and changed patterns of beliefs and practices related to a newborn infant among Hmong and Thai immigrants who are now living in Australia. In particular, I will focus on issues relating to birth time and date, rituals for a newborn infant, not taking the newborn outside the home in the first 30 days of life, beliefs relating to supernatural beings, sleeping arrangements, and infant feeding beliefs and practices. Lastly, I provide discussion on the implications of Hmong and Thai cultural beliefs and practices for child health services and health promotion campaigns in Australia and elsewhere.