Creencias
I find this very interesting so hopefully some of you do as well...
Many Hondurans believe in a few (if not all) of the following ¨creencias¨ regarding health. I hate to make generalizations but I think that the more rural and and the less education you have, the more you believe in these things. However, there are exceptions I´m sure. As volunteers we have to walk the fine line between dismissing their creencias altogether and, on the other extreme, not doing anything to change the possibly dangerous ones.
One creencia I´ve heard is called the ¨mollera hundida¨ which translates to ¨sunken spot¨ on a baby´s head. When any baby is really dehydrated, the soft spot on the top of their head will sink a bit. Because the relationship between dehydration and the sunken spot often doesn´t get made, things are done to try and get the soft spot to go back. One is that they push on the palate (roof of mouth) of the baby to try and pop-out the soft spot. OR, and even worse, they turn the baby upside down and smack the baby´s feet while it´s dangling there (very dangerous due to the shaking).
Another very dangerous creencia is that when a baby is born and doesn´t respond right away, a hen´s beak is put into the baby´s anus. The hen begins to suffocate and starts to move around a lot which sometimes does get the baby to respond (thus the continuation of the belief). If the hen dies, then the spirit of the hen enters the baby and the baby will live. You can imagine the infections a baby could get in it´s first few minutes of life by doing this.
Others, less dangerous, have to do with babies as well. The first one is that the sex of the baby is not determined by the male´s sperm but rather the moon. The other one is that if a pregnant woman sees an eclipse, the baby will have some sort of problem. The last one I´ve heard is that if a baby is really uncomfortable and moving around a lot, they say there are hairs on their spine that need to come out. To get them to come out, they put the mother´s breast milk on the baby´s back and supposedly the hairs come out which you then pull.
I was trying to think about any creencias we have in the US in regards to being pregnant, children, etc. so if anyone thinks of any, please post them under the comments to this blog.
3 comments:
These are some wives tales that I heard when I was pregnant.
* If you have heartburn, your baby will be born with a full head of hair. (This was TOTALLY true for me both times.)
* Carry high, it's a girl. Carry low, it's a boy.
* Can "choose" your gender not based on the moon, but based on timing of sex around ovulation. (Supposedly the girl sperm live longer and the boy sperm swim faster so sex before ovulation would be a girl and sex during would be a boy.)
There is also something that women do where they pee on bleach in the toilet and if it turns a certain color, that is the baby's gender. I'd have to google this to find out the details.
You are doing very interesting and important work with women - I love hearing about it since pregnancy, birth, nursing and raising kids is what my life has been about lately!!
Take care!
Sarah (as in the Sarah that's Luke's cousin)
Annie-
Very interesting..very glad I am having this baby in the U.S.. as for creencias aqui, some that Sarah mentioned I have heard, but I have learned about a few from Mexico that were interesting-
*to tell the sex of a baby, a pregnant woman should spit on a big ant- if the ant dies curls up and dies immediately then it is a boy, if not it is a girl (Roman's sister swears it is true- I tried it, but I don't think it was the right kind of ant because it basically just drowned..go figure)
*They also believe that if you shave the baby's head at about age 1 or so (I am not sure if there is an exact age that they do this at- i have seen one baby that was younger) then their hair will grow back much thicker- you are supposed to do this three times when they are little- although this may be true when shaving your legs, my head was never shaved and I have lots of hair... Even with a boy I would not want that!!! :(
The things you were talking about, annie, are really interesting and some a bit hard to swallow, no?? Keep us posted!!! Sounds like you are doing well- i miss you!! take good care!
lots of love, Erin and baby vega
The other two listed the main ones I know of. I think most of our old wive's tales come from trying to guess the baby's gender before it's born (or seen), and perhaps less about its physical well-being. Some of the ones you mentioned are really disturbing and sad. Hopefully you can set some folks straight on the popular beliefs that lead to damage to the baby, without taking their traditions or fun away.
I think I read something on the web about craving orange juice and the baby's gender, although I can't remember which sex that's supposed to be. I've been loving oj, but guess we'll just have to wait and see! I haven't been told any French wive's tales regarding the baby or its gender yet, but I'll keep you posted!
Keep up the good work!
Dory
Post a Comment