A descriptive qualitative study exploring the postpartum confinement experiences among first-time mothers from the three major ethnic groups in Singapore.

OBJECTIVE

Modern Singaporean mothers still embrace traditional confinement practices after childbirth, which often marks a significant milestone in maternal experiences. However, limited studies have explored in-depth the collective confinement experiences of mothers in Singapore. This study hence aimed to explore the postpartum confinement experiences of first-time mothers from the three major ethnic groups in Singapore, namely Chinese, Malay, and Indian.

DESIGN

A descriptive qualitative study was conducted. Purposive sampling was adopted to recruit participants. Individual semi-structured face-to-face/telephone interviews were used to collect data, which were analysed using thematic analysis.

SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS

Sixteen first-time mothers were recruited from two obstetric clinics in a tertiary hospital in Singapore.

FINDINGS

Five themes emerged: "Specific diets adopted and avoided for different purposes", "Complexity of various traditional confinement practices (TCPs) adopted", "Reasons for adopting TCPs", "Reasons for modifying TCPs", and "Postpartum challenges".

KEY CONCLUSIONS

Our study provided unique insights about Singapore's Chinese, Malay and Indian first-time mothers' postpartum confinement experiences. While confinement practices were still observed, many mothers no longer subscribed to guidelines followed by previous generations and were modifying or forgoing practices they deemed impractical. Mothers faced challenges adapting to new motherhood and often felt restrained or stressed by confinement practices.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

Healthcare professionals should take the lead to educate mothers and their families on harmful traditional confinement practices and their misconceptions. Future studies could explore alternative methods of postpartum check-up to improve first-time mothers' confinement experiences, and focus specifically on lower-income families to explore their unique confinement experiences.