Cultural practices before and during pregnancy: example of Turkey

Abstract

Having children is a substantial part of cultural identity in our society. From past till now, various customs, traditions and beliefs have been applied, especially during pre-pregnancy and pregnancy period in Anatolia. Some of them are still in practice and effective. However, all these practices to have children are applied generally to women, and there are few practices applied on men regarding the elimination of infertility because women are regarded as responsible for not having children in Anatolia. In this compilation, the traditional beliefs and practices applied before and during pregnancy in Anatolia are explained. National and international articles on this subject are analysed by using keywords in Google academic database. As a result, it is found that some practices negatively affect both the mother's and child's health. So, awareness on this subject should be raised, unhealthy practices and beliefs should be discussed and changed, and beneficial ones should be supported.