Grant: Prize - IHDCYH Talks

Perinatal health behaviours are influenced by different but interrelated factors, including personal beliefs. South Asian women, who often live within a wide kinship system, can be influenced by the advice and guidance of their mothers and mothers-in-law. To learn how to best support pregnant South Asian women, we conducted qualitative interviews with 17 South Asian grandmothers who reside in Southern Ontario, Canada. The grandmothers emphasized that the pre-conception phase should focus on building healthy habits around nutrition, physical activity, and mental wellness. Pregnancy should encompass an enriched environment (positive relationships, healthy routines, and nutritional enhancement) and the postpartum phase should emphasize healing and restoration for both the mother and newborn (self-care, bonding, and rebuilding healthy habits). These stages exist in a cyclical relationship where healing and restoration transitions gradually to re-establishing healthy habits before having a subsequent child.