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Understanding babies better

Ethnopaediatrics is all set to revolutionise the way people think about parenting

CHILDCARE It differs from culture to culture

Looking at infants `from an evolutionarily informed perspective' is a whole new science called ethnopaediatrics that claims to help us discover what is truly the best way to parent our babies. It was in late 1995, in Atlanta, Georgia, in a series of papers introduced by anthropologist Carol Worthman of Emory University, this group of paediatricians, child development researchers and anthropologists announced this new branch of research that was soon being hailed as `timely, ground-breaking and critically important'. Their aim was to initiate the study of parents and infants across cultures and to explore the way different caretaking styles affect the well-being of infants through `an evolutionary and cross-cultural view of human infancy coupled with real biological data that can be used to understand truly what is best for infants'.

One of the most startling research findings of ethnopaediatrics so far is the fact that western parenting styles have little to do with what is `natural' for babies! In fact, a biologically healthy child will protest at being forced to sleep alone in a separate room, being fed at only specific intervals, and being left to cry (in the effort not to spoil the child). And according to those involved in this emerging field, other cultures have a great deal to teach Westerners about pregnancy, birth and babies. Fathers have an important role to play in the birth. In some cultures, they stand guard near the birthing hut, praying for a healthy outcome for both mother and baby; in others, they catch their own babies.

Although human infants are biologically similar in their needs (for food, sleep, and emotional attachment), parents and cultures can unwittingly twist those needs to their own ends. American mothers — aiming to bring up smart, successful children in a society that rewards independence and self-reliance — feel compelled to talk to their babies incessantly. In contrast, African Gusii mothers rarely speak to their babies, believing that verbal stimulation will encourage self-centredness, an unwanted characteristic in a family-oriented economy where sharing and belonging are paramount. Ethnopaediatrics, more significantly, is seen as a proactive discipline, with the potential to revolutionise the way people in various cultures think about parenting. For instance, when a researcher discovers that holding a baby for longer periods and more frequently during the day might decrease the baby's crying, or even change the baby's mood, such a study might be used to better parenting techniques.

SHOBHA MENON

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