Question

What are some of the health and illness beliefs and practices, especially around birth, illness, and death? Include a formal health care system as well as folkways of most Muslims, and Christian?

Answer 1

Health and illness beliefs and practices, especially around birth, illness, and death among Muslims

Caring a muslim patient is a challenging aspect for a non muslim health worker. Muslims usually follows a vide variety of health practices in the field of diet, birth of a newborn incase of any disease and in time of death. Following birth of a new born baby they follow so many traditional practices. Among which common one is doing circumcision for all male babies.As per their belief, its mandatory for all male child to go for circumcision, otherwise once when the child is grown, there are chances of contamination during prayer time, due to accumulation of urine in the foreskin.This is against their faith. But they are not understanding that, early compulsory circumcision may leads to cancer and it can create some serious infections. In most of the cases early male circumcision is done at home itself by the relegious people. This may further increases the risk of bleeding and infections due to lack of sterile equipments. Many such cases are even reported. Among the muslim females, they never goes to a male doctor. In certain situations, if the hospital lack female doctors, even during the time of delivery also they stay home and give home delivery leading to many complications. Following the delivery, in some parts of the country, the muslim people will pore some relegious water in the babys mouth as the first drink. They are not understanding the importance of early breast feeding and inability of the childs GI tract to digest the water. Some of the muslim community beleves that, colostrum has no therpeutic effect and it is purely wastage, hence they discard the colostrum for first few days and feed plain water to the new born. As per their imagination exposing the body parts in public is a dangerous mistake. Hence the muslim mothers never feed their child in a public place, instead of that they provide bottle feed and formula feed to the child. This can cause serious health problems like malnutrition diarrhoea etc in child.

Regarding death and illness, they beliefe that death is something good from the god, or god is tesing a individual to save him from all sins he did in his entire life.Following the death of the individual, in some muslim community they may turn the patients head to right side, indicating that the person is havinh his last look towards makka, the religious place of muslims. And if any new born baby delivered on the same day of death of the person, the baby will be given with that particular persons name. Thus they believe that the god recreated the man again. As per their belief, the muslim dead body is buried, thinking that the person can reach to god as whole without any damage. Regarding, illnes they always have social stigma to exolain that to a physician, leading to serious complications.Some of the muslim patients amy feel uncomfortable with physicians and nurses. They never follow family practice techniques and believe that childrens are the gift from god. Hence frequent deliveries causing problem to the reproductive health of mother.

Health and illness beliefs and practices, especially around birth, illness, and death among Christians

Christians dont follow much health beliefs and practices. They also believe that illness is something testing from the god and only hecan save the individual from the illness. For that they avoid medicines and try to attend religious prayers for weeks.The christians believe that, their god has the ability to heal blind and deaf. In most of the christian pregnant mothers, they follow relegious articles like holy water, holy bible,holy oil for having a normal delivery. The chiristien relegion restrict the pregnant mothers from travelling to graveyard, other open spaces etc. They also advice to avoid certain medications and to follow the hrbal preparations for better healing of cesarean wounds. Certain christian community never allow the mother to go for work during pregnanacy.

Regarding illness, the christian community never trust up on conducting surgeries.During the time of any long illness, some of the christian community leaders want to provide confession, holycommunion to the sick patients.Some of them follow dietary practices also. During their 40 days period from ash wednesday to easter they restrict the inatake of meat, milk egg etc. This can cause serious nutritional deficiencies in childrens.