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2008, Issue 2
Educating, Connecting and Supporting families in Monash
Being A Family
Working with Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Families
Siao Du, Maternal & Child Health Nurse
The City of Monash Maternal and Child Health Service has 9 centres across the municipality.
Families with children 0-6 years attend the service. The City of Monash has a large number of families who are from different countries and come to Australia to live.
Families with children 0-6 years attend the service. The City of Monash has a large number of families who are from different countries and come to Australia to live.
Many families experience a number of difficulties and cultural differences in Australia. At my centre, I work with a number of families from China. Here are some of the problems they may face.
- Families will notice lots of differences in areas such as language, culture, childbirth and child raising practices.
- Culturally, many Chinese families like everything "warm" to prevent disease – tending to keep their body and their baby very warm after the birth ; many following a "30 day confinement" at home to avoid being exposed to winds or bad spirits (mainly families from South East Asia).
- The colour "RED" is very lucky for a Chinese baby !
- Usually both parents and the grandparents like to attend any medical or health centre appointments. This can make the visits very busy indeed.
Explanations of appointment systems and availability of Interpreter Services, Australian Childbirth and Parenting practices can help to ease their worries. - For example, it is considered important in Australia to give babies "tummy time" on the floor every day to help the development of neck and back strength but it is not usual to place babies on the floor in many Asian countries.
- Overheating babies is a known risk factor for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome in Australia so families need information about appropriate clothing and bedding for the local climate, which may be quite different to where they have come from. It's important to remember to remind families not to overheat their children.
- Babies' skin condition often changes dramatically in our drier weather too, and traditional skin care routines may not be effective in dealing with skin conditions eg: eczema. (This is often not apparent in more humid climates and families notice a great improvement when they return to Asia on holidays ).
- Australian patterns for introduction of foods other than milk may also seem very strange.
- Loneliness is very common for newly arrived migrants with young children unless they are introduced to local services, Parent Groups, Playgroups etc.
Grandparents are often a great support during the early months but are greatly missed when they return to their country.
As a Maternal and Child Health Nurse, I find working with CALD families joyful and challenging . It's a very varied role : with lots of new information to learn and share with each other!!
Updated: 17 July 2008
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