**WARNING: The information contained on these pages is intended to inform the reader about certain health beliefs in a particular culture. It is NOT intended to be used for diagnostic purposes or self-treatment. We do NOT recommend these practices. The reader is encouraged to seek medical advice for health problems**
The Philippine Islands consists of several islands and many regions, each with its own dialect. With that comes an individual set of traditions, taboos, and remedies. In our interviews we focused our attention on the three most prevalent Pilipino dialects in Hawai'i, Ilocano, Visayan, and Tagalog. We discovered some of the traditions were similar for all the women interviewed and some were not, but, in every case, the woman did what she or her family believed was right for her and/or her pregnancy.
*For this webpage, the term "Pilipino" will be used as that is the preferred spelling of their ethnicity by the women interviewed.
Interviewees:
~80 year-old Ilocano woman, born in the Philippines, moved to Hawaii in 1946.
~84 year-old Visayan woman, born on the Big Island of Hawaii.
~18 year-old Tagalog woman, born in California and moved to Hawaii in 1990, fourth of 5 children.
How many children do you have?
Ilocano: I have 3 children all born in Hawaii; I had 2 miscarriages in the Philippines.
Visayan: 13 all together, 3 with first husband 10 with second.
Tagalog: One
How did you know that you were pregnant?
Ilocano: Vomit. I went to Oahu and I ate lobster, when I came home I vomited, and kept vomiting. I knew I was pregnant.
Visayan: I knew when I missed my period. But I didn’t tell anyone until I knew for sure.
Tagalog: I took a home pregnancy test because I stopped having my period. Even though I was positive I didn’t believe it and I was afraid of how my father would react. About a month later I talked to my grandmother and she took me to the doctor. She was also the one that helped me tell my parents.
Where did you have your children and who delivered them?
Ilocano: In the Philippines there are no doctors only midwives. In Hawaii I had my children at the hospital and a doctor delivered them. When I was 7 months pregnant with my last child, I tried to knock a coconut off of a tree and my water bag broke. They made me rest, and gave me injections, then they did a C-section at 9 months. After that I had blood clots in the toilet and ended up having a hysterectomy later on (When asked about her husband being present at any of her pregnancies she just laughed).
Visayan: I had all my children at the (old) Hilo Hospital; they were all delivered by a doctor. There were no complications. My mother did not believe in doctors or hospitals and had all her children at home with a midwife.
Tagalog: Delivered in hospital by doctor, my mom and grandmother were with me. My grandmother was a calming presence.
Were there any traditions or restrictions you had to follow?
Ilocano: My mother was a midwife in the Philippines and when I was younger I used to follow her around; but when I was pregnant I did what I wanted. In the Philippines I was pregnant during the war and there were a lot of soldiers around. It was scary. In the Philippines I used to plow the field with the carabao (water buffalo) and take firewood from the mountains. In Hawaii I only had to do housework, feed the pigs, and cook for the camp. In the Philippines and in Hawaii I also used to go swimming a lot when I was pregnant.
~ When I had my miscarriage my mother put eggplant root around my stomach and wrapped it to prevent the miscarriage, but it didn’t work.
~After my second miscarriage I almost died. I was bleeding a lot. My mother took my uncle’s pants and boiled them in hot water with vinegar, then put it between my legs like a pad to stop the bleeding. The bleeding stopped and the next day I went swimming.
~ After my cesarean I used to wear a (does a belt or wrapping motion) around stomach (indicating an abdominal binder of some sort).
~I kept the umbilical cords after they fell off, but I don’t remember where I put them or which one belongs to which child.
Visayan: When I was 16 my mother sat me down and told me so many traditions, taboos and remedies about pregnancy and childbirth
~ If you eat an apple with a brown spot on the skin your baby will have a brown spot on them. This could be Mongolian spots or unevenness in the skin tone. This is also true of cherry angioma, which is caused by eating too many cherries while pregnant. She did not believe many of the taboos but while she was pregnant with her first girl she ate many cherries and the baby had a cherry angioma on her face. She ate green apples with baby #12 and he was born with a brown spot on his leg.
~ Never wear a necklace, or anything closed around your neck because the umbilical cord will get wrapped around the baby’s neck.
~ Never stand in a doorway because it may make the delivery hard.
~ If you eat two bananas at a time you will have twins. This goes for any fruit eaten in pairs.
~You must eat what you crave because that is what the baby wants. If you don't give baby what it wants it will leave (miscarriage).
~ Do not criticize or make fun of anyone because the trait will show up in the baby. One baby had a lazy eye because she and her husband laughed at a person who had a lazy eye.
~When you are breastfeeding eat plenty green papaya and potato leaf to make milk.
~For baby’s first bath: boil a lemon or eucalyptus leaf and add to the bath water. This will keep the baby from becoming crippled.
~ I told my daughters and granddaughters about these things to be careful of because I want all my family to be healthy and strong.
Tagalog: After the initial shock my father was the one that told me what I could and could not do. I could not use any necklaces or belts. It was thought that it would cause the baby to be strangled by the umbilical cord. My father is the cook of the house and he made the food I wanted while I was pregnant.
How long did you rest after you gave birth?
Ilocano: I only rested for a little while. I had to go home and take care of the house. Within one month I could do all the housework. I didn’t have any help. I didn’t ask anyone for help nor did I ask anyone questions about how to rear a child, I just raised the kids.
Visayan: After I gave birth I stayed in bed for three or four days. Tradition says a woman shouldn’t do any housework for three months, because something might fallout. My husband, parents, and older children helped with the housework.
Tagalog: My family insisted that I stay home for a whole month after we got home from the hospital so my daughter wouldn’t get sick.
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