Lennox Jessica, Petrucka Pammla, Bassendowski Sandra
Graduate Student, College of Nursing, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada.
College of Nursing, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada.
Glob Health Res Policy. 2017 Mar 13;2:9. doi: 10.1186/s41256-017-0028-9. eCollection 2017.
Globally, pregnant women are challenged to meet sufficient and necessary dietary intake in order to improve maternal and neonatal outcomes. These challenges are amplified in traditional communities, such as the Maasai, where the historical and cultural practices may further curtail, or impact on this dyad's potential success. The research is intended to enhance understanding of Maasai women's pregnancy and nutrition traditions as well as their beliefs.
Interviews with 12 pregnant Maasai women, all originally from the (Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority NCAA) area and have spent most or all of their adult lives in the NCAA, sought to answer two research questions: how do these women describe their current dietary pattern and what do they believe is the role of nutrition during pregnancy.
Interpretive description methodology was used to reveal five themes: (1) Eating less food makes baby come easier, (2) Not producing food means more dependence, (3) Working hard harms my baby, (4) Knowing what is needed for a good pregnancy and (5) Preferring our traditional ways for pregnancy and birth.
There is an imperative to address nutrition throughout the perinatal period within the Maasai population and the women recognize how important nutrition is for them and their babies. Opportunities to incorporate cultural values and practices must be embedded in programmes/services to achieve success and sustainability. It is important for future prenatal programming with the Maasai in northern Tanzania and other vulnerable groups of pregnant women to build on the women's knowledge of what leads to good pregnancy outcomes.
在全球范围内，孕妇面临着满足充足且必要饮食摄入的挑战，以改善孕产妇和新生儿的结局。在传统社区，如马赛族社区，这些挑战更为严峻，因为其历史和文化习俗可能会进一步限制或影响母婴实现良好结局的可能性。这项研究旨在加深对马赛族女性怀孕及营养传统以及她们的信仰的理解。
对12名怀孕的马赛族女性进行访谈，她们均来自（恩戈罗恩戈罗保护区管理局，NCAA）地区，且成年后的大部分或全部时间都生活在NCAA地区，旨在回答两个研究问题：这些女性如何描述她们当前的饮食模式，以及她们认为营养在孕期起到什么作用。
采用解释性描述方法揭示了五个主题：（1）少吃食物让分娩更轻松，（2）不生产食物意味着更多依赖，（3）努力工作会伤害我的宝宝，（4）了解良好孕期所需的东西，（5）更喜欢我们传统的怀孕和分娩方式。
必须在马赛族人群的围产期全程关注营养问题，并且这些女性认识到营养对她们自己和宝宝有多重要。为实现成功和可持续性，必须将融入文化价值观和习俗的机会纳入项目/服务中。对于未来在坦桑尼亚北部与马赛族以及其他弱势孕妇群体开展产前项目而言，基于这些女性对实现良好孕期结局的认知非常重要。
