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Statistics say that there are approximately 750,000 citizens in the USA which claim direct Russian ethnicity, while over 2.500.000 citizens claim Russian ancestry (“Russians and East-Europeans,” n.d.). Many things about Russia, its people, and its traditions remain a mystery for the average American, as a history of geopolitical and military confrontation, as well as the distance between the two countries, cause many misunderstandings and stereotypes to warp our perceptions of truth and reality. At the same time, these cultural differences must be accounted for by a nurse, when it comes to many medical procedures, including child birthing. The purpose of this paper is to highlight important traditions, beliefs, and perceptions of child birthing among Russians, which need to be addressed, respected, or even incorporated into our contemporary nursing practice.
General Description of the Cultural Group
Many Russian women move to the USA after marrying a US citizen and receiving citizenship due to said marriage. The majority of them are well-educated and come from large cities such as Moscow, St. Petersburg or others, which have a developed infrastructure and healthcare facilities. Thinking of these patients as rural and primitive could be viewed as insulting, as they are well-aware of what healthcare services look like and should be. Many myths about Russians and their country are perpetrated by Russian migrants that came to the country shortly after the fall of the USSR in 1991 and largely reflect on the state of healthcare prior to the collapse, which was suffering from being undermanned and undersupplied (Borozdina, 2014). The situation in Russia is different nowadays, and the new generation of young Russian immigrants capable of childbirth is more used to a higher quality of care. Despite that, many practices and traditions in regards to child birthing procedures have transcended time and could be considered universal (Wirtschafter, 2014).
Prenatal Practices
Although implementation of prenatal practices varies from one mother to another and depends on personal preferences, the majority of Russian mothers understand the importance of conducting a healthy way of life during pregnancy. For the duration of it, they may stop smoking and drinking and prevent others from doing so in their presence (Perkova & Nazarova, 2017). They tend to avoid physical activity that they think might cause harm to the fetus. Visiting the doctor for advice is usually avoided unless absolutely necessary, as many Russian women refer to their mothers for advice. Food diet tends to consist of porridges, oatmeal, fruit, vegetables, and light meats such as chicken, due to its popularity in Russian cuisine (Perkova & Nazarova, 2017). Although psychological consultation for mothers is starting to become a trend in Russia, it is still shunned by many of them due to a stigma that the word “psychology” carries, as it is associated with mentally-unstable people. The patients are, thus, reluctant to talk about their problems, such as depression and other mental health issues that may appear during the prenatal stage of the pregnancy (Prayer, 2011).
Labor
Russian culture promotes stoicism in the face of hardship and pain, and it translates well into the labor phase. Russian women rarely complain and usually comply with instructions. They are reluctant to use painkillers and any other medicaments during labor, as they fear it would have a negative reaction to the baby. This belief is shared by many Russian medical professionals, who do not encourage the use of sedatives during birth unless absolutely necessary. The use of C-section is widespread in Russia, and Russian immigrants rarely object to it, if its necessity is explained to them. They are more acceptable towards water birthing, as the practice existed in Russia ever since 1985 (Shapiro & Shapiro, 2013). The presence of the father during birth is undesirable due to a tradition of secrecy.
Post-Partum Care
Traditional Russian practices suggest a resting period of at least one week before the mother is allowed to see relatives. The birth of the baby is considered a big event. However, a celebration occurs only on the 40th day of birth and is connected to ancient Russian history. In the past, many children died shortly after birth, especially in rural communities where medical assistance was unavailable. Thus, if the baby survived for 40 days, it was considered a promising start, which gave birth to this tradition (Prayer, 2011). Russian culture encourages breastfeeding as the only real way to feed a newborn baby, as they consider breast milk to contain important elements and nutrients necessary for healthy growth (Perkova & Nazarova, 2017). They are very suspicious of any substitutes and would only accept them if there are no ways of avoiding it. Russian diet for young mothers suggests drinking a lot of milk and eating healthily. However, fruits and vegetables such as tomatoes, strawberry, and several others are avoided, in fear of causing allergies in the child. Public breastfeeding, on the other hand, is frowned upon, as Russian culture considers it to be impolite to others (Wirtschafter, 2014).
References
Borozdina, E. (2014). Language of science and language of love: The legitimization of independent midwifery practice in Russia. Laboratorium, 6(1): 148-153.
Perkhova, K., & Nazarova, V. (2017). Birth and Midwifery in Russia. Web.
Prayer, M.M. (2011). From the roddom to the Black Sea: my experiences in Russia. Midwifery Today with International Midwife, 99, 49-52.
Russians and East-Europeans in America. (n.d.). Web.
Shapiro, E.V., & Shapiro J.M. (2013). Cross-cultural healthcare delivery and treatments: An examination of Russia and the United States. Hawaii’s Journal of Medicine and Public Health, 72(8): 21.
Wirtschafter, E.K. (2014). From the womb to the body politic: Raising the nation in enlightenment Russia. Canadian Slavonic Papers, 56(1), 228.
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