Rituals to care for the newborn according to the worldview of Nahua communities

Abstract

Introduction: Indigenous mothers have deep-rooted cultural practices to care for the newborn, therefore it is necessary for the staff to know them to promote interculturality in health. Objective: understand the rituals to care for the newborn according to the worldview of a Nahua community. Method: Qualitative ethnographic research. Fourteen mothers from the Nahua communities of the south of the Huasteca Potosina participated. Sample determined by the saturation and redundancy technique and convenience sampling. To collect the data, participant observation and the ethnographic interview prepared by the researchers and validated by expert judgment were used. Results: Rites and beliefs when the newborn's umbilical cord falls; customs to heal the newborn from pushing; “good vibes” ritual to cleanse and protect the newborn and her mother from evil. Conclusions: In the Nahua culture, when the newborn umbilical stump falls, they bury it under a banana plant. For the "push", a pregnant woman makes a cross with her own saliva on the baby's forehead. After 7 days of the birth, they bury a chicken heart in their home as an offering to protect the newborn, the midwife does the “cleaning” for the family and they eat a “patlache” (special tamale), rituals transmitted by grandmothers and midwives.